Naruto:Hero in Disguise
by Redyoshi14
Summary: Naruto, what if he had at least one friend before he started the acadamy? A new spin on his life with Naru/Hina. Slight bashing
1. Chapter 1

A/N: My first story, please rate and review... This story is NaruHina. I hope its liked.

Naruto: A Hero in Disguise

It was a bright summer day in Konohagakure. The hidden ninja village was at peace. It was ten years since the Kyuubi no Yoko, the nine-tailed demon fox, was defeated by the village's hero, the Fourth Hokage. Since then, the village lived in relative peace. With all of the peace, some villagers were still not comfortable living in what was probably the most powerful of the hidden villages. When you asked them why, their answers would always be the same. It would go by many names, but almost every time the words left their lips as if it was venom.

"The damn fox"

"The _demon_ child!"

"The kid…"

"That damn Naruto…"

Yes, the bane of most of the people in the village was none other than the ten year old ninja-to-be, Naruto Uzumaki. Born on October 10th, he was soon to be hated almost his entire life. When seen, he was always sporting his trademarked bright orange jumpsuit and a smile, running at top speed from a prank he had probably just pulled. Today he was running from several high ranked chuunin for a cinnamon bun he had stolen from them.

"Hey you brat! Get back here with my snack!" one yelled. His face was red and he was panting heavily. He had two more chuunin following him closely behind, panting as well. They chased him into an alleyway; at the end was a high brick wall.

"We have you now, you little nuisance" the lead chuunin said, as he started making hand signs. At this, the youth smirked, and started making some of his own, none of them actually real, before yelling…

"_Paint Can Ambush Attack No Jutsu!"_

"Paint can wha-" was their answer before several paint cans full of red, green and yellow paint fell on their heads, blinding them. They struggled to get them off their heads, only to find that the paint had glue mixed into it. The type of glue was Ninja Glue… Chakra laced with the power to hold on as tight as chakra! Needless to say they didn't get it off for a while.

"Hahaha! Serves them right! They shouldn't have shoved their way in front of me and bought the last one!" Naruto said as he ran through the street, sporting his biggest smile, causing his eyes to close in earnest. As such he wasn't watching where he was going and crashed into a small, slightly frightened Hyuuga heiress…

"Ouch!" Naruto yelled, as he fell back, rubbing his nose. When he looked up, he saw a small girl with dark blue hair and pale lavender eyes. She was wearing a thick gray overcoat, which she was clutching tightly. Naruto could see her moving her lips, even though she was looking away, but he couldn't hear a thing.

"Hey! Girlie-chan! If you wanna say something then speak up!" Naruto yelled.

At this, the girl started speaking a little louder. It was still barely a whisper, but at least he could hear her now. He thanked himself he had unusually well hearing. She had said…

"A-ano, sir…" and then returned to her silence. Naruto, however, was not pleased

"Y'know, you should also _look_ at someone when you're talking to them." She turned to face him, "Good Girlie-chan, now speak… where I can hear you."

"Ano, sir, it won't happen again."

"Now that's better Girlie-chan! Don't sweat it! I ran into you! Tell you what, you can have this cinnamon bun, I don't like the things anyway, I only took it to get back at them.

The young girl took the cinnamon bun shakily, never looking up from her feet. When she finally did look up, however, Naruto had already disappeared.

Uzumaki was now running along the rooftops. When everyone in your village hates you, you find that running in the streets was a very bad idea. In empty streets like the one he was in before, it was okay, but in most areas something was usually thrown at him. When hungry he would sometimes stroll through the produce street and catch the rare, fresh produce that came his way. But he learned the hard way; one day when he was eight; that there are weapon stores in his beloved town, and they loved keeping rusty weapons within arm's reach. That was not a good day for him, and he thanked the powers that be for giving him incredible healing. He wondered though, why was there someone on that street anyway? He made sure that no one would be there after mapping the time tables of the streets very carefully. That street was empty. Oh well, he wouldn't worry about it. He had an even bigger job today. He needed somewhere to eat, and seeing as he couldn't cook to save his, or anyone else's life. He often relied on restaurants to feed him. They often poisoned his food; you notice the taste after being fed it so many times, too bad they didn't know poison didn't affect him.

He managed to walk into a little shop in one of the streets that were usually empty. This store, like the street, was deserted. He looked around, and let out a sigh he stopped noticing he was holding. He sat down and rang a small bell, and after a little while a man stepped from behind a curtain that he guessed had the kitchen in it.

"Hello young sir!" the man said heartily, "what would you like?"

Naruto was a little shocked. This would be the second time this week, and probably his entire life, he was treated with such respect. The word "sir" sounded foreign to his ears. It was never said to him, and as such he never repeated it to someone else. He sat there a while in shock, worrying the old man behind the counter.

"Are you okay little one? Are you lost or something?"

Naruto answered quickly after being shaken from his mild shock, "No! Sorry about that. So what do you guys serve here?"

The old man answered prideful "Only the world's best ramen! We have all sorts of flavors! Beef, pork, miso, cheese, shrimp, chili-"

"If it's the best then why am I your only customer?"

"Watch it brat! Don't you know not to piss off the guy who makes your food?"

"Geez gramps, don't catch a heart attack on me, just make me a pork ramen then…"

The old man trudged off into the kitchen for a little while, before emerging with a steaming hot bowl of ramen, beef flavored.

"Ne, I said I wanted pork!"

"You pissed me off, so you get beef"

Naruto grunted as he took a bite, or a huge mouthful of the broth, never taking his eyes off the man in front of him. Those same eyes bulged out of his head, as his taste buds were attacked to the point of almost giving out on him. He had never eaten a poison that tasted like this! Come to think of it, none of them had the same effect either. He took another bite of the mysterious food, wondering where it had been all of his life, and had the same, desired effect. The rest of the rather normal sized bowl was practically inhaled before Naruto asked for another, in his own crazy way.

"Hey gramps! I don't know what kind of poison you put in this food, but its good! Another round! In your biggest bowl!"

At this, the old man became a little ticked. I mean sure, he had dealt with a few rude brats in his day, but none of them were quite this rude. "Hey kid! I have a name y'know! It's Teuchi, and that was my biggest bowl. And what do you mean? I don't make poison flavored ramen. It's bad for business."

Naruto was shocked. This person was treating him with respect, well, the most he had ever received, and gave him a good bowl of something that wasn't just poisoned water, albeit the wrong order. He started to tear up. Everything was happening so quickly, and he was never exposed to the things that were happening now, which just happened to be compassion.

Teuchi saw the boy start to tear up, so he left to let him compose himself. In his absence, he found a bigger bowl, which was really a fancy pot he had received around the same time he had opened the place, and made another batch of beef ramen, only this time with a little more flavor, little did he know he would be making it the same way for the same person for many years after.


	2. The Best of Ninja World

Here is the new chapter everyone. First I would like to say thank you to everyone who added my story, and some that added me. I am not too sure of my writing ability yet, so any comments would be accepted. First off, thanks to Kitsunegan, amichalap, kingdom 219, Rose Tiger and SrgntDrew for the support, its loved. I do not own naruto...

Sorry for the interruption, without further ado...

Chapter 2: The Best of Ninja World

Naruto was feeling great. If he could, he would say that he was feeling on top of the world. It had been one year since he discovered Teuchi's place, Ichiraku Ramen, and since then everything had been going great. After eating there, he had finally gained enough courage to apply at the ninja academy. He had avoided the place like poison due to the sheer amount of ninjas that he was sure would be there. Also, the thing was deep in the village. Trying to get there on time using his safe streets would take forever! After eating a hearty bowl of ramen though, he pulled up his bright orange sweatpants and got there, albeit it took longer than it should have. When he got there, the woman behind the counter was reading a magazine, and it was taking all of her attention. She admitted Naruto to the academy without a second thought, and continued reading. He was surprised that no one removed his name before the start of school, but he wasn't complaining. Ever since that day, however, Ichiraku's became part of his daily routine.

_Flashback No Jutsu_

Naruto walked into class on his first day of ninja school. When he walked in, he noticed that the class had a diverse range of students. He looked around, and his eyes almost immediately fell on a bright shade of almost neon pink. '_That color can't be natural'_ he thought. He looked down and discovered that it was hair. The girl attached to the hair was pretty, but her eyes were fixated on the boy next to her. The boy had jet black hair that looked to be modeled after a duck, and piercing eyes that seemed to be glued to him ever since he walked into the classroom. Naruto was a little miffed that he was getting stared at so intensely for no reason at all, but then again that happened a lot. He decided to continue his scanning of the classroom. Next person he saw was an almost feral looking boy with red lines running down the side of his face. He was wearing a gray coat similar to the one Hinata, whose name he learned eventually, usually wore. The only difference was the one he was wearing had a hood where a small white dog was resting. Next to the feral boy was another one wearing shades… and that was it. There was nothing else extraordinary about him besides the fact that he was wearing… okay where the hell do they buy these coats?

The next person he saw was Hinata herself. She was wearing her usual garb. Naruto could tell that her eyes were on him as soon as he entered the classroom as well, but her gaze was welcome, besides he was used to it. When he looked at her, she shifted her gaze down to her fingers, which she was fiddling with. She often did that, so Naruto thought that she was practicing her ninja skills, and trying to spy on someone without them noticing. So far, she was horrible at it, but they were in ninja school now, so she had plenty of time to improve, right?

It was at this moment a blonde haired girl kicked in the door and trudged into the room. She didn't even acknowledge that there were other people in the room as she marched straight to the pink haired girl and the boy that reminded him of a raven. It didn't take long; probably not even a second before the blonde and pinkie were in each other's faces.

"Why don't you move out the way forehead, so that the rest of us could get a better look at Sasuke-kun?"

"In your dreams Ino-pig! Sasuke-kun is mine! I already claimed him!" at this "Sasuke-kun" visibly paled. A fight between them, and soon the rest of the girls in the classroom, besides Hinata, broke out.

Naruto had managed to find his way to a seat in the back of the room, next to this boy with a spiky ponytail and a chubby kid with swirls on his cheeks eating potato chips. The one with the ponytail was looking out the windows into the clouds, but the other one introduced himself as Choji.

The fight between girls had now been thinned down to just the two who started it, and yet the raven boy had still seemed disinterested. Naruto was contemplating going down there and getting in his face, before he heard a small voice, barely audible above a whisper. If he didn't have such great hearing he might have missed it.

"H-hi there N-Naruto-kun… How was your way here? N-not too much trouble?" Hinata asked, now sitting next to him. She looked him straight in the eyes as she spoke. Naruto flashed a smile, knowing that she would've have done either of those things before they started to hang out. He looked back into her eyes as he answered, noticing how beautiful they were when the sunlight shined in them just right… Wait, what? He decided it was irrelevant.

"Oi, Hinata-chan! It was okay! The streets were unusually empty today, but even if they weren't, I could've handled it after my daily bowl of Ichiraku's!"

"Daily… Ichiraku's?"

"Yeah! They make the best ramen ever! I go crazy over the stuff!"

"R-really now…"

The two fighting girls had managed to beat each other in a double KO, just as their teacher shun-shinned into the classroom. Everyone took to their seats, Sakura on one side of Sasuke and Ino on the other, before he started to talk.

"Hello class! My name is Iruka-sensei! From now on I will be teaching you all the basics necessary for you to become a useful ninja!"

_Flashback End_

Since then, he had been learning at the academy the basics of ninja-dom. When not at the academy, he would be pulling pranks on the ninja to burn away some time. He was getting better at planning and escaping the now jonin ninjas chasing him, to the point he could almost predict what his pursuers would do, even if he never met them before. When not pranking, he would sometimes hang around the Hokage Tower, seeing as the Third never minded him for some reason, or at Ichiraku's. That was where he was going today actually.

When he walked into the shop he noticed something was different. For one the place was almost full, leaving almost no seats. It was a good thing Teuchi had left him a seat just for him. When he sat down, he noticed Hinata in the seat next to his. She started her "w-what a coincidence N-Naruto-kun" speech as Teuchi walked back in with a bowl of pork and a bowl of miso ramen.

"I ordered for you N-Naruto-kun… I-I hope that's okay?"

"Ne, that's cool Hinata, I wanted pork anyway" he said as he prepared to make his ramen disappear

As they were eating, Hinata eating politely and Naruto finishing his third bowl, Teuchi decided to speak up.

"So guys, those two over there a friend of yours?"

Naruto looked up from his fifth bowl of ramen to the almost couple sitting in the corner near the back of the ramen shop. It wasn't quite a couple as there were about a thousand other girls around the two, who Naruto could see was Sakura and Sasuke. Sasuke had tailed him to Ichiraku's around the third day of school, glaring him down the entire way and occasionally followed him there ever since. Wherever he went Sakura went, and wherever she went, the rest of the Sasuke fan club followed. Teuchi started on how "He was good for business" as the raven boy walked over and started to speak, before Naruto beat him to it.

"What do you want Sasuke-teme?"

"Nothing from you, dead last. I just wanted to show off my fan girls. How does it feel dobe, knowing that I will always be better?

"I don't need a crowd of whiny girls behind me everywhere I go, I rather one _useful_ one that can hold a conversation, besides, I have as many friends as you, albeit, most of the, aren't female"

"Ha! That Hyuuga chick couldn't hold a conversation with a candle, you two losers deserve each other"

Now, Naruto could handle a lot of insult and probably shrug it off, but something about this teme insulting Hinata made him snap a little inside.

"TEME! YOU DON'T GET TO INSULT MY PRECIOUS PEOPLE!" like I said, just a little.

Naruto sprang from his chair and tackled Sasuke to the ground, only to see he was now on top of a chair.

"Substitution Jutsu?" Naruto asked as a foot connected with the side of his skull, sending him shooting out the store across the street. Sasuke emerged, with his fangirls now in cheerleader outfits cheering him on.

"What's the matter dobe? Can't keep up? Maybe your little Hyuuga would rather hang with a real man?" he said as he went back in the shop, only to return with Hinata in tow, who was trying desperately to get free.

Now, it was when Naruto really snapped. He said nothing as he got up, and walked slowly over where Sasuke was.

"Heh, ready for round two dobe? I'll show you the power of the Uchiha!" Sasuke said as he rushed Naruto, and jumped and kicked him in the side of his face, only to find that he was now kicking a chair. He turned to find an angry, red eyed Naruto behind him. Naruto punched him in the face, and while he was flying back, appeared behind him in an almost unbelievable speed and connected several punches to his neck, spine and arms before putting his hands together and hammering him into the ground. Before he could continue, he felt the combined killing intent of his fan club behind him, before that was gone as well. The girls fell forward, to reveal an activated Byakugan, and glowing hands.

"A-ano Naruto-kun, I just didn't want them messing with my precious people either… S-so N-Naruto-kun… I am one of your precious people?

Naruto, his eyes back to their blue shade, smiled and walked forward. He was about to say something when he was knocked out by a pissed Iruka.

"Dammit Naruto! What did I tell you about doing stupid things? And good afternoon Hinata-chan"

"Good afternoon Iruka-sensei" Hinata said as she giggled.

Iruka picked up Naruto's body and stepped over the others littered around the ground and into Ichiraku's. He ordered a miso for him and Hinata, and several porks for Naruto, to go.

"Hinata can you hold the food for me? We have to go or we'll be late for the graduation exams!"

Hinata nodded and took the food, as they hurried off to the academy.


	3. Chapter 3: The Man Who Would Be Damned

Chapter 3: The Man Who Would Be Damned

Naruto walked into the classroom, having woken up halfway through the ride to the academy. He felt the glares on him as he passed, but some of the people glaring turned their heads, though he couldn't imagine why. He turned his head and saw that both Iruka and Hinata were glaring right back at them. He knew Iruka's glare was terrifying, as he had been on the receiving end of it several times, but he never knew Hinata had a mean bone in her body. Seeing her glaring at the people as they passed by scared him a little as well. Her eyes seemed to be burning holes in the people as they passed by, judging from the way they reacted to her. When she saw Naruto was looking at her, she turned a deep shade of red and turned away, closing her eyes, which relieved some of the onlookers.

"Ne, Hinata-chan! That was awesome! I have got to learn how to do that as well!"

"Oh… N-Naruto-kun… T-thank you… I-I think?"

Iruka looked as his two pupils, his dead last and one of his star pupils after Sakura and Sasuke, who he think he stepped over back at Ichiraku's. He chuckled to himself and took the food from Hinata as they were walking into the school grounds.

"I'll hold the food until I see both of you with your forehead protectors!"

"But Iruka-sensei! That will be forever from now! I could probably eat it before the exams start!" Naruto yelled.

"I know Naruto, but this is more of a gift than a treat. You'll get it when you pass!"

Naruto, not one to give up so easily over ramen pushed a little harder, "but there won't be any passing if I don't have enough energy to even move! That's why I need the ramen now!"

Iruka chuckled and shun-shinned away. He left an irked Naruto and a rather amused Hinata. The bell rang, and Hinata turned to walk into the academy, hopefully for the last time. When she heard no footsteps behind her, she turned to see Naruto, still looking at the place where Iruka was, defeated. She giggled again, before grabbing Naruto by his arm and dragging him inside. When they walked into class, they found that the class was unusually empty. She was probably the only girl there besides Ino. The class was also missing a raven boy, which was rare, seeing as he was always the first one there. Then she remembered the events of the day, and gave herself a mental pat on the back. She single handedly took out all of her female classmates, half of which probably didn't deserve to be a genin anyway.

While Hinata was thinking to herself, Naruto was noticing something else. Everyone else in class was looking at him, or rather… them? He looked down to see Hinata still holding on to his arm, which he thought was normal, seeing as he was dragged around by her a lot recently. So what was so damn interesting? Was there something on his face? He decided to ask Hinata, as she was usually much more attentive than he was. He nudged her a bit.

Hinata felt Naruto nudge her, and broke herself out of her musings. She looked up at Naruto to see him looking back at her. Before he could ask his question, Hinata looked back at the class, this time noticing the people who were in the class rather than the people who weren't, and then back to them. She broke apart immediately and blushed heavily, before walking to her seat in the back, next to Ino and Kiba. Naruto went and took his seat next to Choji and Shikamaru.

"Haha, you seem to be popular with Hinata-chan, Naruto" said the feral boy, Kiba.

"Indeed, the levels of affection between you two were sensed by my bugs long before you entered the class" said Shino, the Aburame.

"It's troublesome, having something like that so early in life. Although I guess it would be easier than doing it later in life…" said the lazy Nara, Shikamaru.

"Meh, you're overreacting, its kinda cool Shikamaru" said Choji, eating his ever famous chips.

"You may be almost as much of a ladies man as Sasuke-kun" said Ino Yamanaka.

"Ne, Ino, could you not mention duck hair in here? I'm tired of his pompous attitude" said Kiba with a sneer.

Naruto decided now was as good a time as any to interject, "Yeah Ino-chan. Don't compare me to the teme. He treats his friends as lackeys rather than comrades. He has a lot more female friends than me but he treats them like toys. I don't know what you guys are talking about but I'm happy I have Hinata-chan as a friend. She's kind and loyal and sweet and most importantly…"

By this time Hinata had fainted, and Ino was reconsidering her choice in man, but Naruto isn't the "Most Unpredictable Hyperactive Knuckleheaded Ninja" for nothing …

"… She's taught me a lot of stuff! Like, there's this thing she does with her hands, she touches me in these places, she starts out really slow, but then she gets faster and faster until finally, I get weak in the knees and collapse. When she's done, we're both really tired. We've done it so many times though I'm starting to last longer and… wait… why are you guys fainting?" little did everyone else know he was talking about their sparring practices.

By this time the door to the room was slammed open, and in came Mizuki-sensei, their exam proctor, and a more than pissed off Sasuke and Sakura.

"You wouldn't believe the amount of trouble you're in dobe" said the raven haired Uchiha

"Yeah baka!" said his cheerleader, the pink-haired banshee. (I would like this time to apologize to Sakura from Shippuden, who's an awesome medic ninja. If I ever write long enough for a time skip then she would be able to redeem herself, unless the readers would rather it a different way, but for now, she was kinda mean for no reason at all.)

"Naruto, it has come to my attention that you have assaulted Uchiha-sama, and as such, you are not allowed to take the graduation exam." Said Mizuki

"What? That's no fair! The bastard started it!"

"That's not what we heard; we have eye-witnesses saying that you did. Listen Naruto, don't make this any worse for yourself, you're excused."

By this time, Hinata had woken up and heard the gist of the story. She decided that she wanted to defend her man, and that overruled her usual fear of public attention, "B-but it's true Mizuki-sensei, Sasuke, came over and started to bother us and…"

"That's enough out of you Hinata! If it weren't for your family you would be excused as well", Mizuki started to laugh, "this brat will never know something like that"

Shikamaru decided his two cents were worth something now, "Mizuki-sensei, that's a little harsh. Your role as a teacher means that you have to make unbiased decisions, and judging from your demeanor that hardly seems to be the case… Besides, I find it more likely that Sasuke provoked the fight." He said in his lazy voice, still looking out the window. He may have mustered up the motivation to care, and he may have conjured up the interest from the depths of hell to talk, but it would be a cold day in said hell before he moved his eyes off that cloud.

"Shut it Nara, before you are disqualified too, we all know your class participation sucks, and I could fail you just for that."

"I don't think it'll affect me, graduating is too troublesome anyway."

It was about this time his Choji senses were tingling… Something was wrong in the force… No more chips! He knew something was wrong! He was sure he brought enough to last the entire exam and then some… so that means that something was holding them up and whatever it was would PAY! It was then he noticed that someone was annoying his best friend and picking on Naruto, so he decided they were adequate rage quenchers.

"I doubt you'll ever graduate cactus head" said raven boy

"Says duck ass head" screamed Choji

The pink banshee decided it was time to use her special powers, "SHUTTUP! DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT SASUKE-KUN LIKE THAT! YOU-YOU FATTY!"

The class gasped and waited for the explosion that never came. Choji looked silently at Naruto before turning his head and laughing. Naruto smirked too. He knew what Choji was doing. He and Choji had started to hang a few days after he entered the academy. They became fast friends, and started to become tighter than brothers. Not as tight as Shikamaru and Choji, of course, but still very close. As such they became to learn from each other, Choji taught Naruto a low level form of the body enlargement technique, with the permission of the clan of course, and Naruto taught Choji something that would later become invaluable to the Akimichi, how to control your anger to use for later. Naruto would pity her, had she not been testifying against him… and had she not been such a raging bi-… (Trying to keep rated K+)

"Sakura-chan, no offense, but I had heard from the girls that were there who called me… They told me what happened and I don't think it's fair what you're doing" said Ino, who was impressed by Naruto.

"Shutup pig-girl, don't tell me you're siding with the dobe?"

"I'm not siding with anyone but justice."

"Then JUSTICE claims you shut the hell up and back Sasuke-kun!"

Kiba was just laughing. And they called his mom a… (You know… dog clan… mom is a female…)

It was at this time that a boy in the back spoke up. He had spikey red hair, and wore a red and black version of the apparent ninja jackets that's standard for some reason. He had pitch black eyes with blue irises, "I concur"

Mizuki, who had up until this point been quiet, enjoying the battle between the students, decided to respond to the young boy, "Ah, I know you, class prodigy Yoshi Red. Came into the class halfway through the year and aced every test. Shrouded in mystery, for some reason you were accepted by the Hokage instantly, almost from the second you entered the village from unknown lands. An orphan, the only thing we know about you is that you love ramen. Hehehe, you're the Uzamaki brat if he was halfway acceptable.

Naruto had only looked at the boy who was so much like him, why did he not see him before?

Yoshi, sensing his stare, responded, "Don't worry Naruto, I'm just the author's attempt to incorporate himself into the story in order to fill any plot holes and be an overall living deus ex machina… Don't worry; I probably won't appear very often, as I have much to do."

The class looked flabbergasted, but Mizuki decided that he would just ignore that and move on to torturing Naruto.

"Anyway… you are excused Naruto, you are holding us up and I would really like to move on."

Hinata looked ready to protest again, but Naruto placated her by raising his hand. He flashed his biggest smile and waved, "Don't worry Hinata-chan, it'll be okay"

On the outside, Hinata seemed to let his words calm her, but on the inside, she was crying. After hanging around Naruto for so long, she could sense when he put on his mask, and she hated it. That smile, that smile hurt her more than the elders of her clan ever could. Naruto was crushed in mind and spirit. She didn't know how, but on that day she decided that more than one person responsible would be crushed as well, some in more ways than others…

_**So how was it guys? Please leave a comment, any will do. Hell, give suggestions, I don't care. Most likely I will do them. I would have updated sooner… but my laziness puts Naras to shame… Like I said, some comments might change this…**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Sorry guys if you don't understand. Yoshi Red is a character made by me just in case I had plot holes in the story that needed answering or convenient ways to get things done. For instance, if I want Naruto to learn a new jutsu, but nothing else makes sense, I could just say that Yoshi taught it to him. He's more of a failsafe than anything, but I don't plan to be using him so this is probably the only time you'll see him other than times I just want him in there. Comments like these are loved though. Also thanks to Rose Tiger again, for the constant comments. You guys seriously rock, I would site you all again but I'm exhausted from homework… Please comment guys and I promise I'll do it next time…**_

_**Don't Own Naruto, but the story below is mine**_

_**Without further ado…**_

Chapter 4: A New Spin

Naruto was sitting on a branch outside the academy. He had been running all day crying, never staying in one place for long. He didn't want to let the villagers get the satisfaction of seeing him broken. As he was halfway to the Forest of Death, he was met with an unexpected figure…

_Flashback No Jutsu_

Naruto had been running for five minutes straight, which meant a very long track record for a ninja. To almost all he was just a speeding orange blur, but one man was able to grab him by the collar. Naruto started to struggle, but he stopped as he looked into the powerful eyes of the man who grabbed him. The man looked around him, and at the villagers who seemed to always be yelling "kill him", even when Naruto was nowhere around. One threw a kunai at his feet, presumably to use to kill him. He kicked it back however. He threw Naruto at a blinding speed through the door into the estate that which he owned. He proceeded to drag him through the house, where he received some stares from the people who lived there, although most of them were at the boy he was dragging. As he walked into his private study, he loosened his grip and let him go, before sitting down and facing him, his figure imposing. Naruto straightened up and did the same.

"So, what did you drag me for Hyuuga-san?"

Hiashi winced at the improper honorific, but smiled… or at least remained stoic through it anyway, "My apologies Naruto-kun, but I had to make sure that I keep up my appearances. I would rather enjoy helping you change the views of the village, but for now I do not see it going well. For the sake of my plan you have to bear through it. I would happily assist you in any way, but if that is to be so then I would need my power and respect on the council to remain intact, something rather impossible to do if the civilian council finds out that I've been helping you."

Naruto, while a knucklehead, knew what Hiashi was talking about. He hated it but Hiashi had a point. He went over millions of other ways to get him a little more accepted within the village, but all of them were rejected, with good reason. Hiashi's plan was the only way. Over the time they got to know each other, Naruto and Hiashi managed to get along well. He had even taught Naruto a few jutsus and gentle fist techniques, keeping it a secret from the clan. They studied a lot in Hiashi's private study, about the tactics of war, battle, and chakra and pressure points. Hiashi may not have been able to teach him a lot in secret, but with his pride at stake as a teacher he was sure that he would teach him all he could in the best way possible. He didn't like Naruto at first, but after he managed to befriend both his daughters and the honorable grandson he decided it might be better to judge with actual information rather than an informed inference. They had become grudgingly respectful of each other, Naruto of Hiashi's power, Hiashi of Naruto's ability to repel people he didn't like. Whenever Hiashi dragged him somewhere people seemed to back away from him… well more than usual. Even the branch members managed to stay away. He cursed the fact, however, that Naruto had made friends with the heirs of the Aburame and Inuzuka, who seemed to know that it was all an act, and gravitated towards him more. At least the Akimichi gave him discounts for their food now.

Hiashi knew when something was wrong. His eyes were powerful enough to see the subtle changes in someone's body actions when they were mad, angry, sad or embarrassed. "What's the matter Naruto?"

"Nothing Hiashi-san, it's nothing, really"

"Naruto, I know when you're lying"

"I keep forgetting your eyes are so powerful"

"No, you're just a really bad liar when you're depressed" he replied bluntly

"It was worth a shot"

"No really, it wasn't"

"Fine, I got disqualified from the graduating exam for beating up the teme." Naruto then proceeded to go over the events of the day.

Now to say that Hiashi was excited when he learned he was the most powerful user of the last remaining dojustu… would be insane as he would kill you for calling him excited… but he was rather proud. Until he heard that there were two surviving members. He knew Itachi for a while after he became jonin. The man was almost as emotionless as him, it made him slightly amused to play shogi with him every day. He knew things about Itachi no one else did, and he knew that his death would come before his own. He decided to look after Sasuke for his lost comrade after he left the village, but decided not to after the boy practically demanded he hand over his clan secrets. When he heard his somewhat student beat him up, he enjoyed it immensely. It was the first part of the speech that he grimaced at. The Hokage was going to throw a fit… and he was sure to be there to see it.

"I will see what I can do Naruto… or rather… come Naruto, we are going to make another plan."

Naruto sat there a little surprised as his somewhat mentor stood up and pulled a book from his shelf, opening a door into his "war planning room" as he liked to call it. Naruto liked to call it "Hiashi's Play Room". He quickly got up and followed his teacher in through the old door, before it closed behind him.

_Flashback End_

And that was why Naruto was sitting on a branch outside the academy. This was phase one of their plan… and he was damn sure it was a load of it. I mean, if Hiashi was right, then this would have to be the lamest anime eve-

At that moment Mizuki dropped down in front of Naruto.

-the hell?

"Hey Naruto, you look a little sad there."

"Of course I'm sad you teme! I was disqualified because of you! Now I have to wait a whole 'nother year just to take it again!"

"Naruto, Naruto! Calm down would you? I did this all for you! I have to be honest with you; I don't think you would have passed that test. The questions were too advanced for the dead last, and had you taken it, those _bastards_ on the council would have no doubt in their minds that you were not ninja material, but I have devised a… supplementary test…"

Naruto couldn't believe his ears; this was going exactly like Hiashi had said. Mizuki had an ulterior motive for disqualifying him. He didn't know what yet… but he was going to. Naruto decided to play the fool and went along with it.

"R-really Mizuki-sensei? I can? What is it? I can do anything!" Naruto said conjuring up those fake tears.

Mizuki laughed a bit before answering, "Well, Naruto, it's more of like a scavenger hunt! There is this scroll in the Hokage Tower; it's called the Scroll of Forbidden Jutsus… I need you to find it for me…"

"Wait, if it's forbidden then why am I going after it?"

"Oh no, that's just a name Naruto! Now listen Naruto, it won't be very easy, its hidden well. We can't let you graduate off of an easy test now can we?"

Naruto was deep in thought, he knew he would have to go through with the plan, he just hoped the old man was okay with it…

(Midnight, Hokage Tower)

Naruto ran through the halls, only his experience with evading chunin after his pranks keeping him from being found. He had made his way to the top floor, where two jonin were standing at attention. He knew that he was better than most genin were at his age, but he knew two jonin would be pushing it.

Just then a flash of blue resonated and a black figure appeared before two now unconscious jonin. The figure turned around and Naruto looked into the pale white eyes, before it vanished.

"Thanks Hyuuga-san" Naruto thought before proceeding into the room. He disabled all of the traps prepared by the Hokage and looked around the office of the Hokage. It was mostly bare, spare for the desk and some bookshelves off to the side. There were some chairs for some would be visitors but that was about it. Naruto approached the desk first and started to probe it. He found nothing of value besides a crystal ball he knew the Third used to see things. He picked it up, curiosity being the only thing that always beat him. He moved it over to the podium the Third usually had it on and released a bit of chakra into it. The ball responded to it and the floor collapsed beneath him.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a small tunnel that he assumed was in a cave underground. He proceeded down the tunnel and came to a large metal door.

'_This must be the Hokage Vault'_ Naruto thought before he proceeded to try to push it, but to no avail. The door had to be at least several tons, and Naruto had a hard time pushing Choji after seeing the words "all you can eat." He tried releasing chakra into it, but that only resulted in him being sent several feet back into the cavern. He walked up to it one last time before trying his last thought. He took a kunai and cut his palm, then smeared his blood across the door. At first nothing happened, but then the room started to shake, and the door slowly creaked open. Naruto dashed inside as soon as he could, missing the words now written in chakra on the door, "Welcome Yondaime"

XxX

Asleep in the Sarutobi mansion across the village was the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Deep in his dreams, he was now happy, chasing his beloved through a field of flowers, both of them in a young age. Neither of them had ever heard the word "Hokage" or the massive amount of paperwork that went with it. Hiruzen had never trained under the Shodai or his brother the Nidaime Hokage, and ninjas were just a fairytale dreamt up by a crazy person…

But then his life was always just one ninja storm…

A scroll in his room had started to flare, waking him instantly. Old as he may be, his ninja training was still intact, and if a leaf fell in the forest, he was sure to hear it and be ready to defend his village against it at all costs. He hoped desperately that was what was happening now as he picked up the scroll, knowing exactly what this particular scroll was. He opened it, and saw something that almost sent him to the grave from shock. Instead of the usual, "You left the door open" message that he usually got, it said something that hadn't been written on it in a while… "Welcome Yondaime Hokage Minato"

Hiruzen stormed through his door, and used the body flicker technique to get to the tower as soon as possible, not waking his wife in the slightest. The only thought going through his head being, "Naruto you fool."

Hiruzen didn't stop to remember that he never kept the scroll in his room…

XxX

Now, Naruto had to ponder a bit why his blood would open the door. He had to ponder a bit why it felt like he knew where he was and where to go in a place he had never been before. But these took second fiddle as he ran through the long hallway with many doors. Each door had a symbol above it that he knew very well, Hiashi having drilled it into him from a while ago. He recognized the symbol of Hyuuga, Nara, Akimichi, Aburame, Hatake, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Sarutobi, and even some other, less known ones. As he got deeper into the facility, he noticed that the doors stopped appearing, and when he reached near the end of the hall, he got to a part that was old and decrepit. It was hard to read, but he managed to put it together. It had said…

**Founding Clans of Konoha**

Naruto, having nowhere else to go, walked in.

Inside, he saw doors more grand than the ones he had ran past on the way here. There were three in total. The first two he recognized right away, the doors and their descriptions as followed…

**Senju Clan- The clan of a thousand techniques, feared throughout the land, was the first founding clan of The Hidden Leaf Village. The Shodai Hokage hailed from this clan, Hashirama Senju was their leader.**

**Uchiha Clan- The clan of the invincible dojutsu, feared throughout the land, was the second founding clan of The Hidden Leaf Village. The legendary ninja hailed from this clan, Madara Uchiha was their leader.**

Naruto looked on in awe at the doors, left slightly in disrepair; he pushed on however, knowing that backup could be here anytime soon. He kept going, before completely stopping in front of the last door. He was about to keep going, before a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Naruto turned around quickly to see the Third standing in front of him, obviously pissed.

"NARUTO! OUT OF ALL THE STUPID STUFF YOU COULD PULL…" he started, power emanating from his very words. Naruto stumbled backwards, holding on to a wall for support…

XxX

Hiruzen was pissed. He knew Naruto was rejected and hated all of his life, and because of that he was allowed to get away with a lot of things with just a slap on the wrist, but this was just going too far, this had to end now. Hiruzen was about to unleash his fury when the door Naruto was holding onto started to glow…

XxX

Naruto looked up at the door he thought was a wall with astonishment. It was so much unlike the rest, being rather plain than intricate. After the glow was gone however, the door turned out to be even more elaborate than the other two, and looked as if it was not a day old, retaining the shine of newly polished metal. It shone of red metal, having a bright orange spiral in the middle, extending outwards towards the edges. It had bright orange clouds dotted here and there and dragons and tigers of the same color fighting towards the bottom. Naruto read the words that appeared alongside the door…

**Uzumaki Clan- The clan of the mysterious fuinjutsu, feared throughout the land. The third and last founding clan of The Hidden Leaf, being founded themselves in Uzushiogakure. The seal masters hailed from this clan, Mizusho Uzumaki was their leader. **

Naruto looked on in awe at the doorway reading it over again just in case. When the words said the same thing, he started to visibly shake with the knowledge he was receiving. He turned to look at the man he considered his grandfather, only to see him exhibiting the same reactions as he was.

"N-Naruto… what did you do? We have never been able to open that door…" He said, his anger abated for now. He looked at the youth's palm and saw blood dripping from it, and knew instantly the answer to his question, "Naruto… I think it's about time we had a talk…"

Just then a fuma shuriken flew from the darkness behind them at the two ninja, who dodged it with small movements, caring very little what was going on. Mizuki stepped out of the shadows and started to laugh, "Oh no Hokage-sama, it's my turn to shine! Now hand over the forbidden scroll before I have to take it from you!"

Both Naruto and Hiruzen were ready to deal with the traitorous ninja when a flash of blue beat them to it.

"Naruto, this is mission success, you owe me cinnamon buns." Said the stoic and emotionless Hiashi Hyuuga, "Hokage-sama, I believe we have something to talk about."


	5. Chapter 5: The Results of Training

**_I __said I would, and I never go back on my word, for that is my nindo... my ninja way..._**

**_Special Thanks To: Rose Tiger, for your ever diligent commenting_**

**_Thanks to: adngo714 for commenting, please keep it coming._**

**_Sometimes, people comment, and they're anonymous, so I can't list you. Please sign it, cause there were more people besides the two above and I feel bad for not listing them when they deserved it._**

**_Another thanks to all the people who added me and my story, if you're still reading, please comment._**

**_Here you go though_**

**_Rapter2001  
>angelrey<br>Alarith  
>Yami Kurushimi<br>DarkWardancer  
>alexrc55<br>Dusk666  
>SneakyDaemon<br>beast17  
>Labbear<br>My Secretmoon  
>KirbySuperStarNinja<br>SrgntDrew  
>amichalap<br>kitsunegan  
>kingdom219<br>JoRdIn0xNuMe_**

**_Thanks for the support guys, keep it up! Comments would be nice. (Btw, I still don't have a beta)_**

**_This chapter was... long. The longest I have ever written, and it puts me nicely in the 10k word mark. Stay loyal and lets hope we can go farther. Redyoshi, out_**

**_I do not own Naruto_**

Chapter 5: Results of Training

Naruto was panting, obviously out of breath while he jumped out of the way of an attack. He was sweating hard trying to keep up with the barrage that was being sent his way. He tilted his head to the side, narrowly dodging the attack that broke apart the tree behind him. He couldn't help but smile as he looked into the pale eyes of his sparring partner, Hinata Hyuuga. He took this chance to get away, and with a bit of what little chakra he could muster up, he ran his chakra infused hand over his body, reopening his tenketsu points. In an instant he was back to his old, energetic self, while Hinata was still panting. He ran over to her and prepared his punch, stopping it just before her face, ending the match in…

"A draw", said the proctor, Hinata's father, Hiashi.

Naruto laughed, looking down at his stomach where Hinata had pulled out a kunai, ready to stab him if he pushed any further. A punch to her now would have ended him as well, yet he could tell she didn't have enough energy to push it into him either.

"Both of your postures have improved drastically since you started sparring. Naruto, your knowledge of the tenketsu points and your way of opening them have improved as well…"

"Thanks Hyuuga-san, it was Hinata who helped me to develop it" said Naruto.

"Yes, I know, do not interrupt me next time." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, but otherwise stood at attention, not wanting to break the code of conduct made mandatory by the Hyuuga teacher.

Hiashi continued, "Your reaction time has improved as well. Hinata, you are no longer a failure. Your skills have moved into the acceptable parameters expected of a Hyuuga from the main house. You need to work harder though, your cousin Neji from the side branch outranks you by leaps and bounds."

Hinata looked depressed, but Naruto put his hand on her shoulder and whispered, "Ne, don't worry Hinata-chan. He's complimenting you, in his own way." Hinata smiled a bit, and turned back to her father, her face betraying no emotions, just as her father showed her.

Hiashi remained emotionless on the outside, but on the inside he was a little proud. His daughter was beginning to shape up to be a fine ninja, and a fine heir, but she still had a long way to go. He decided to reward his students, only this once. He dismissed them for the day, and while they were turning to leave, he tossed them both cinnamon buns. They sensed something was being thrown and that it was not hostile, and caught it without even turning. Hinata immediately turned and bowed to her father for giving her, her favorite treat. Naruto was a little more reluctant to, seeing as Hiashi knew he didn't like the things. He couldn't outright refuse it out of respect for his teacher, but he couldn't eat it either. He knew this was sly punishment for interrupting him. They left right after they got the buns, and Hiashi turned to do his own errands as head of a clan. The day would be almost enjoyable for everyone in the Hyuuga house. When Hiashi had his cinnamon buns, the day seemed to go a little smoother.

XxX

Naruto and Hinata had leaped across rooftops to get to the one place Naruto ever wanted to go, Ichiraku's Ramen. When they were a little over a mile away from the Hyuuga estate Naruto gave Hinata his bun, knowing that Hiashi would be looking and that a mile was the farthest he was willing to look with his Byakugan.

As they walked in, they saw their stools empty and their usual orders hot and ready for them. For Hinata, she had a small Miso ramen. Naruto had two pots of pork, seeing as Teuchi and Ayame was tired of cleaning bowls all night.

As they sat down, Hinata used her Byakugan to check the surroundings for any Uchihas in a henge, or any neon pink banshees. They had been banned from the shop on their last visit there, and have since snuck in several times to harm Naruto or the business. Naruto was happy to "escort" raven boy off the ground, while Hinata was more than happy to do the same with Sakura.

Today however was one of the few days they had to have peace.

They said their thanks for the meal, before digging in. When they were finished, they paid their bill and decided to have a walk through the town. They were on their way to training ground 3 ½… It was there where they would receive their headbands and their team assignments…

Hinata looked up at her hero and crush. His beaming face and radiant smile always made her warm inside. She was thrilled when he told her…

They dodged kunai and fruit thrown at them.

… that he had been promoted to genin. When she asked how, he said that he'd tell her later. She decided that now was as good as a time as any, so she grabbed his arm and rooted herself to the spot.

XxX

Naruto looked back to see Hinata grabbing his arm and pouting. He knew that face well, it was the face she made when she wanted something, and he knew there was no getting away from it when she rooted herself down…

Although, Naruto couldn't say no when she made that face, not that he would ever tell her… he didn't quite understand it himself.

Naruto sighed and put his hands into several seals before hugging Hinata tight and whispering "_Flashback No Jutsu",_ into her ear. They were transported into Naruto's flashback.

_Flashback No Jutsu_

Mizuki was laid face down, tied up in the cavern inside the Hokage Vault. He was unconscious after the Jyuuken attack. Sarutobi had sat Naruto down in a chair he had summoned. He knew this would be a long night.

Naruto was already sitting there in total shock. He was surprised that he actually belonged to a clan… and that clan was actually a founding clan of Konoha!

Hiashi returned from above, having resealed the hole down to the cavern and closing the door to the vault. He knew he wasn't supposed to be down here, but after explaining it and being sworn to secrecy he was allowed. He knew the story about to be told, having experienced part of it, and being told about the other part from the elders of his clan.

The Third exhaled deeply, then began his story…

"Naruto, do you remember the tale of the Nine Tailed Fox, the Kyuubi No Yoko?"

Naruto nodded.

"Well, it was not entirely true. It is impossible for a human to kill a demon. It was therefore sealed into a baby boy, but it cost the boy both of his parents…" the Third stopped hoping that Naruto would catch on and make this so much easier… He didn't so he just continued, "That baby, Naruto, was you."

By this point Naruto had started to hyperventilate, not believing the things he was hearing. He had the Kyuubi in him? He is the son of the Fourth Hokage? He belonged to a founding clan of Konoha? This was a huge load on his brain, and so he did the only thing that you were supposed to do when your brain overloaded… he blacked out.

The Hokage sighed, he picked up Naruto and carried him back up through the cave and back into his office, with Hiashi right behind him carrying Mizuki. Hiruzen returned the ball to the drawer in his desk, and dismissed Hiashi after the Anbu took Mizuki.

'_Naruto barely listened to history classes in school… how the hell am I supposed to teach him about that?_' Hiruzen asked himself.

As if on cue, Naruto woke up from his fainting spell. He looked around and recognized where he was instantly. His ears perked up, and he sat at attention, ready to hear the rest of the story he was sure there was left.

Hiruzen straightened up as well, as he told the story of the Uzumaki. "The Uzumaki were a mysterious clan founded in Uzushiogakure, in the Land of Whirlpools. They were distant cousins of the Senju, and therefore distant cousins of the Uchiha as well."

Naruto winced a little at the thought of being related to Sasuke in any way.

"When the Senju and the Uchiha decided to come together to form the Village Hidden in the Leaves, they were backed and funded by the Uzumaki, and subsequently Uzushiogakure. The Uzumaki were very active in the events of The Hidden Leaf, as they already had close ties to the Senju anyway. In fact, the wife of the Shodai Hokage was an Uzumaki.

"R-really Hokage-sama?"

"Yes, she was beautiful; she was also the first jinchuuruki of the Kyuubi. Naruto, your mother, Kushina Uzumaki was the second."

Naruto had started to tear up again, but he held it back as he listened for more.

"The Uzumaki were known for their incredible fuinjutsu. Their seal techniques were a force to be reckoned with. A skilled seal master from that clan could probably change the flow of time itself given a lifetime of training. From their basis, is where exploding tags, sealing scrolls, and most other of the seals we use every day come from. These seals were from the time they were still a village however… No one has been able to really improve it besides Jiraiya…

"Wait, what happened to Uzu?"

"Naruto, do you know where the Land of Whirlpools is?" Naruto shook his head no. Hiruzen wasn't surprised; after it was wiped out it was removed from all archives. He pulled out a map from a very long time ago. He pointed to a small country in between the Lands of Fire, Rock, and Waves.

"That is the Land of Whirlpools."

"But gramps… it's so small, I thought they were a powerful nation."

"No, they had a powerful village, but the land itself was by no means powerful. Their affiliation with Konoha kept it safe under the power of the Fire Daimyo, but the Second Great Shinobi War threw all of that out of balance. They were caught in the crossfire between our countries, and they were exterminated for working alongside us. It was a complete devastation, with the other three working together to destroy them. They attacked while we were recovering; we weren't able to mobilize in time…"

Naruto looked visibly depressed, but Hiruzen continued his story.

"They ended up crippling our power greatly, but it was not a loss only on our side. Uzushiogakure was a powerful village for a reason. It took all of the opposing army's forces to take them out, and by the end, half of each of the armies were decimated. They were the reason we were able to gain the most favorable outcome of the war; alongside the Sannin and the rest of the ninjas of course."

Naruto was listening eagerly, this news was astonishing to him, but he had to ask the question, "So… am I the last of my clan?"

Hiruzen was dreading this, but he answered the best he could, "I don't know Naruto… After the war the remnants of the village scattered throughout the lands."

"So what about my dad… the Fourth? What about his clan?"

"Unfortunately, he was the last of his clan as well. I don't know a lot about their clan, I just know that they were really gifted. They have been shown to have unbelievable combat skills. This included incredible speed, fluid reflexes and amazing strength. They were also skilled in the Yin/Yang Release, being rather odd. As a result, they were starting to experiment with Space-Time jutsu before they disappeared."

Naruto nodded, tears threatening to flow from his eyes. He couldn't bring himself to look up at his grandfather. His parents were orphans just like he was, and yet they became such strong and powerful ninja.

Hiruzen saw the hesitation of the kid he considered a grandson and spoke with a slightly softer voice, "They loved you a lot. They both risked their lives to protect you. If there was any other way they would have avoided it, but it was the only way. I'm so sorry, but if it makes you feel any better, they both left you something."

Naruto had now looked up, surprise evident in his tear soaked face, "Really? W-what was it?"

"Well, your mother, having being out of contact with her family and village for so long was not able to leave behind many of her family jutsus. She herself was a prodigy of her clan, and her own discoveries alongside the techniques of your birthright down in the vault, I'm sure that you could learn a lot from them. As for your father's clan, he was a little more direct. He was known as one of the fastest ninja in the world. He was respected and feared throughout the entire ninja world, and created various jutsu and seals of his own, being a seals master in his own rights. Among these techniques are the Rasengan and the Hiraishin, just to name a few. The Rasengan was his ongoing experiment, so its instructions were never written down, but the Hiraishin, among others were recorded for future use. I don't plan on giving any of them to you, however, seeing as many of them were deeply rooted in fuinjutsu, most of them being boosted by its influences."

"So basically, until I master fuinjutsu and become a seals master, my father's jutsu if off limits. So my mother will lead me to my father?"

"In a word, yes"

"Well, I can't learn this stuff if I'm not a ninja."

"Well, about that…"

_Flashback No Jutsu end_

Hinata, after the jutsu was dispelled, promptly fainted from the amount of knowledge she was receiving. Naruto had moved to carrying her the rest of the way to the training ground. He looked over the sleeping form of Hinata, her being a lot lighter than she looked. A strand of hair fell over her face, and her lips fell into that pout of hers, as if she was fighting something that was being unfair in her dreams. Every so often the sun would shine directly over her closed eyes, causing her to scrunch up her face, and coo whenever he moved her out of it. Overall it was a pretty cute scene, and Naruto felt his attention glued to her. As such he didn't notice when he walked into Training Ground 3 ½.

"Always the entertainments aren't you, Naruto-kun?" said Ino, sighing at the romantic sight before her.

"Ne, always being troublesome for the sake of Hinata. Huh?" said Shikamaru

"Eh, isn't this supposed to be romantic, Shikamaru?" asked Choji

"…" It was Shino, what did you expect?

"Haha! Good job Naruto!" yelled Kiba.

"Bark!" said Akamaru, ever the poetic knight.

Iruka said nothing as he looked on with a smile and a proud heart. He was going to let them have their little moment, but of course, there people that were just plain mean.

"Wait, what the hell are you doing here, dobe?" asked Sasuke, who seemed disinterested. It wasn't so much as he was surprised he was here, as much as he really just wanted to know.

In response, Naruto laid Hinata down against the trunk of a tree that gave shade, causing Hinata to almost purr. This made Naruto almost pained to actually have to leave. He went over to where Sasuke was standing, now flanked by Sakura out of fangirl devotion and Ino out of obligation to her crush? She wasn't really sure why she was on Sasuke's side, but now that she was here she might as well stick it through to the end.

Naruto relaxed, and pulled out his headband, and used it to replace his old goggles. With a chest full of pride, he tied it around his head, and screamed, "By special order of the Third Hokage of Konoha, I am now a ninja!"

Almost everyone in the training ground was overjoyed, but there are always haters…

While Sasuke was actually a little relieved that the only person that might have been able to beat him had become a ninja, Sakura was a little less regal about it.

'_He assaulted Sasuke-kun! He is NOT getting off the hook so easily_'

"Well, now that that's over with, we have to get ready to announce the teams shall we? First off…

Team Kurenai! Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, and Hinata Hyuuga. (Naruto was a little disappointed, and he knew that Hinata would be as well, if the rustling she did when it was announced was any indication) Shino and Kiba just walked over and sat down on either sides of her, complacent with their team.

Team Asuma! Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akamichi, and Shikamaru Nara. (Ino was severely disappointed, but she didn't know why. Naruto was disappointed as well, as that only left…)

Team Kakashi! Naruto Uzukami, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha. (Dammit)

'_Dammit_' thought Naruto

'_Damn_' thought Sasuke

"WHAT THE HELL!" screamed Sakura, "He not even a ninja! Wasn't he disqualified for assaulting Sasuke-kun? How do we know he's not just making it all up? He's the dead last that couldn't even do a bunshin!"

"Calm down Sakura. He may be the dead last, but he was recognized by even the Hokage, I think we should give him a chance" said Iruka, trying to defuse the bomb getting ready to explode, "now please be quiet, I have more teams to… where are the rest of the students in my class?"

"Well, Hinata knocked out all of the females…" said Kiba

"And I crippled all of the other boys" said Sasuke, "I'll do the same to you if you slow me down, dobe" he said, now looking threateningly at Naruto.

"I think you'll find our next fight to be a lot unlike the last, bastard." Naruto replied, his appearance that of a still calm. Before he only had academy jutsu and some of the clan jutsu he learned here and there, and he couldn't even use it because he wasn't given permission to outside of their respective clan houses. But now, he had his own clan jutsu, and he was more than happy to be able to use it.

"I agree dobe. This time I will win" Sasuke pulled out a kunai and readied to charge, but he was stopped by Iruka.

"No fighting until your jonin sensei gets here"

"I keep forgetting you're just a chunin, Iruka. Get off me before I beat you too" said Sasuke, struggling out of the grip of his former sensei, who promptly let him go. He stomped over to the far end of the training ground, and sulked over in his dark corner."

"Why'd you let him go, Iruka-sensei?" asked Naruto

"Yeah, I would've sliced him up" said Asuma, dropping down from out of nowhere.

"He would've been in a genjutsu that would leave him emasculated had he said that to me" said Kurenai, doing the same.

Naruto looked around expectantly for his new sensei to say something, and then mentally slapped himself. He knew the Copy Ninja Kakashi was infamous for being late.

After Hinata and Shikamaru were woken, they departed with their respective sensei, Hinata giving him a quick hug before leaving, something not missed by everyone else, but they chose to ignore it.

XxX

Minutes turned into hours, as Team Seven waited for their sensei. Everyone was started to get restless, so Naruto started playing catch the kunai with Iruka. Granted it was not the _safest_ or the _smartest_ game he could think of, but they were bored.

After about two hours Kakashi finally shun-shinned into the training grounds. He didn't choose the best place to appear, and joined in the game of catch the kunai… with his face… It hit him square between the eyes… then right through him…

"A bunshin?" asked Naruto.

"Why yes, a bunshin" said the lazy ninja, Kakashi.

"Hey Kakashi-san, now that you're here I can leave, good luck" said Iruka as he shun-shinned away.

"Should I be worried about that?"

"Probably Kakashi-sensei. Why were you so…" started Naruto

"Why were you so late, Kakashi…" asked Sasuke, cutting him off.

"That's Kakashi-_sensei_, and I was saving baby raccoons from a raging madman who wanted to use them to power his toaster that would allow him to take over the country of beans" answered Kakashi. In his head, no matter how ridiculous, the longer a lie the more plausible it was.

"REALLY?" to Naruto, this was true as well.

"No, baka, it was a lie" answered Sakura

"A bad lie at that. How stupid can you get?" asked Sasuke.

'_Hm, I think I already know which one of these guys I like the best. Might as well beat around the bush until I know for sure though._'

"So guys, tell me some more about yourselves, like your hobbies, interests, and dislikes? Also, a name would be nice as well."

The three looked around at each other, Sakura glaring at Naruto, before Sasuke finally spoke up, "Why don't you start?"

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, and I don't care enough to tell you anything else. Since you're obviously so talkative, why don't you start us off?"

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, my hobby is training myself to avenge my clan. I'm interested in gaining more power to avenge my clan, and I dislike Itachi, cause he killed my clan."

'_Wow, so he's the happy-go-lucky one_' thought Kakashi. "What about you, pink hair?"

Sakura started to speak, but was cut off by Sasuke, "Wait, you just heard about the most interesting and important one of us here, why would you even want to bother with these two?"

Kakashi was a little surprised by his arrogance but he was a little more surprised by what happened next.

"Y-yeah, I don't even know why you would want to learn more… Sa-Sasuke-kun is all that matters…" Sakura was on the verge of tears, but kept her fangirl status in play. Sasuke didn't even turn to acknowledge her. Naruto, however wasn't as much of a fan of Sasuke.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! My hobby is training and becoming stronger to protect my precious people! I'm interested in Hinata-chan and ramen! My ambition is to become stronger and become the best Hokage, better than all the previous ones so that I can be acknowledged by everyone in the village. I dislike Sasuke-teme and people who hurt my precious people." He then looked at Sakura, "Now you speak pink banshee"

Sakura was a little surprised, "B-baka… Did you not l-listen to what I…"

"I did, and I don't care. Just cause the bastard believes that he's more important than other people doesn't mean he is. If you still feel fangirly about him then at least let Kakashi-sensei know your name."

Sakura started to talk, before she was cut off again.

"Everyone else in the village does, it's a belief that goes back generations. The Uchiha are better than you normal scum!"

Naruto responded just as vividly, "Well if it's something everyone else believes then I'll gladly be considered scum to object it! Personally, anyone who believes that crap is less than scum!"

Kakashi was impressed. His impressions of his students were complete. Sasuke was an a**hole, so he was gonna stop caring about that one. Sakura was misguided and had self-esteem issues, but at least that could be worked out, with time. Naruto was something else though. He reminded him a lot of Obito. He was exuberant, had boundless energy, and most of all, an idiot. Yes, he was the idiot of the trio, just as Sasuke was the genius and Sakura was the female.

"Okay, that's enough. Everyone, now that I'm done with the introductions, I couldn't care enough about the rest of this little argument of yours. Meet me at training ground whatever at 4:00 in the morning tomorrow. Make sure not to eat, as your genin test will surely make you lose it."

"Wait, I thought that we already took our genin test?" asked Naruto.

"No, that was the test to see if you are ready to take the test. This is the real test."Kakashi said, before turning and shun-shinning away.

The trio looked at the spot where their sensei was for a moment. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other for a minute, before turning and leaving the training grounds in opposite ways. Sasuke was expecting the sound of fangirl footsteps shadowing his own, but they never came. He turned to see Sakura still standing in the middle of the field, staring lifelessly into nowhere.

XxX

Sakura was lost in her own world of nothingness. She was deep in thought, and so her eyes fixated on that rock as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. Her mind was racing, and going in circles. She was thinking about Sasuke, which was nothing new, but it was different this time. This time he wasn't her perfect pariah, he was sort of… cold? Why was he like that? Naruto appeared in her mind as well. He was being nice to her, even after all those times that she and Sasuke bullied him. Why was he like that? She replayed all of the memories of Naruto in her mind. This time though, she removed the opinions of him the village, and most importantly, her mom, placed into her. When she looked beyond the whole, "He is a virus this village must erase" mentality, he was really a nice guy. The rest of the kids in her class seemed to like him, and Hinata REALLY liked the baka… er… Naruto. Even Ino started to abandon Sasuke in favor of Naruto. She also stopped calling him "baka", and stopped calling Sasuke "kun". Come to think of it… when did _she_ stop calling him "kun"?

It was around this time that Sakura noticed that she was standing here for a while. She felt a pair of eyes on her, and instinctively turned towards them, only to see Sasuke staring at her with that gaze of his. It used to make her melt, but now… Now she wasn't so sure how it made her feel. A small part of her felt hope that maybe he really did care for her… maybe he really was worth…

"Tch, stop acting like an idiot all the time" said Sasuke before turning and leaving, not even looking back at her again.

This left Sakura crushed. Her eyes welled up and her vision became blurry. She dropped to her knees and started to cry. Why was he like that? The boy she had a crush on… Even started to love… Why?

It was then she felt another pair of eyes on her. Only, this gaze didn't feel so cold. It almost felt warm and inviting. She looked up and saw some beautiful eyes, a warm and beautiful existence that made her almost want to gravitate towards them. The figure gave her a napkin, which she promptly took. Wiping her eyes, she looked up to see Naruto. He looked angry, but it wasn't towards her.

"Ne, I hope now you see why I call him Sasuke-teme." He said. Sakura felt small under his gaze, and looked down at her knees, before she was lifted off them by Naruto.

"Get up Sakura, its unseemly for a girl to be in the dirt like that. Besides, if I am going to be on your team, then I'm going to need to trust you to have my back. It's going to be hard to do so, and I know you won't like me watching yours either, but we just have to bear through it until we're chunin. I hear you're smart, Sasuke is considered a genius, and I'm awesome, so it shouldn't take too long. You can't watch my back if you're sitting down there watching your knees."

Sakura started to speak, but was cut off, as per the standard for today, "I know, I know… I'm a baka that should watch what I say about "Sasuke-kun", yeah yeah… I'm leaving" said Naruto, leaving the training ground. Sakura looked on, and then looked the way Sasuke went, and then thought… She stood there all night.

XxX

The alarm beeped a loud and obnoxious sound. Naruto woke from his deep dream and hit the alarm, breaking it. It repaired itself right after, as the seal it was standing on was designed to fix it every time he broke it. He thought it up after he had to buy his third alarm clock that week. For some reason his strength was a lot stronger than it used to be. Maybe it was weight seal he had placed on his body? Or maybe it was the extra energy he got from not having to repair his house from the villagers destroying it because the lock seals he placed on his windows and doors. Maybe it was just fun to break stuff when it automatically repaired itself.

Naruto rose out of his bed, scratching his head and yawning. He moved to get dressed, and took a shower. He was going to make his breakfast ramen, but then he remembered that his sensei told him not to, so he skipped it. As he was walking out the door, he could feel the ramen screaming to him to come back and eat them, but he walked on ignoring it, tears almost coming to his eyes from the betrayal to his favorite food. He promised himself that he would come back and eat it with more vigor than ever.

As he was walking to training ground… wait… where is training ground whatever? He would figure it out eventually.

Not knowing where to go, he just walked around aimlessly. His body seemed naturally attracted to the place, and his feet led him straight to Ichiraku's Ramen.

As he passed, he heard voices inside, which he thought was crazy, as if it wasn't for the training, even he wouldn't be up so early. He snuck up to the entrance, and hid in the doorway. Inside he heard Teuchi and... Hinata?

"I wonder why you come here so early Hinata" said Teuchi. His voice sounded weary and tired.

Hinata giggled, something that Naruto had come to love… wait… love?

"You ask me the same question every day, Teuchi-san. It's to make sure you don't "forget" to make Naruto-kun's ramen. Every day I don't come here Naruto has to wait for his ramen while mine was mysteriously made ahead of time."

Teuchi laughed heartily, "You know I can't say no to such a nice and well-mannered girl like you. Naruto however is too much of a knucklehead and deserves to wait for his food. He sure is lucky you come in everyday for him." To this, Hinata just answered with another giggle.

'_Hinata comes in every day for me?_' Naruto thought, '_How sweet of her, but why?_'

While he was thinking, Naruto lowered his guard, and Hinata was able to make out some of his outfit. When you wear bright orange jumpsuits everywhere you tend to be easy to spot in a crowd.

Hinata giggled, "Come out Naruto-kun, I see you" she said playfully.

Naruto stepped out from behind his cover, "I see you got over your stutter, Hina-chan"

Hinata blushed lightly, while Teuchi just laughed. He placed a plate of fresh dumplings on the table in front of them before walking away.

"Ne, old man, I didn't know you made dumplings"

"I don't, Ayame usually makes them for Hinata for breakfast before you get here because sometimes she gets tired of ramen" Naruto and Teuchi both glared at her, before being bopped on the heads by Ayame and her special weapon, "The Frying Pan"

"You two leave her alone" she said angrily, before stomping away.

Hinata spoke up after giggling hard at the beating they got, "S-sorry N-naruto-kun… I really do like ramen…"

"It's cool Hina-chan, you should just tell me when you don't want ramen, and we could eat somewhere else sometimes."

Hinata was overjoyed, while Teuchi was mortified.

"Thanks Naruto-kun, but they make stuff other than ramen. I can enjoy this place forever, as long as you're here…" Hinata said, blushing. Naruto blushed too, and Teuchi relaxed after hearing the comment. Naruto was never going to leave. "Tell you what guys! Free ramen! On the house for this day only! All you can eat for Hinata, and one bowl for Naruto!", he said, bringing out two hot bowls of ramen, one pork and one miso

"Ne, that's not fair!"

"Your point?"

Naruto was ready to argue some more, but Hinata grabbed his arm and beckoned him to the his seat next to her, which never seemed so inviting before…

"I can't, Hina-chan… Kakashi-sensei said not to eat!" he said, voice not completely convincing.

To this, Hinata pouted, and latched onto his arm, sealing his fate. Naruto was still being reluctant however, so Hinata pulled her trump card.

"C'mon Naruto-kun… who's gonna know?" She said in her most sensuous voice, pouting her hardest and looking him dead in the eyes. Naruto knew he was doomed, and sat down to eat. Deep inside, he felt defeated, while Hinata realized she had an amazing power.

When they were done eating, Hinata ordering more and more food for Naruto, the sun had begun to rise, and people were starting to come out of their houses to go to their jobs. Naruto started to panic, and he asked what time it was.

"Um, around six, why?"

Naruto relaxed, "Nothing, my sensei asked me to be at the training ground at 4 this morning."

"Then Naruto, you're late! Get going!"

"Don't worry about it, Kakashi-sensei is always late, but still, I'm cutting it close, I'll see you later" he said, before getting up and proceeded to run out the door, before turning back and tackle/hugging Hinata, which caused her to blush deeply, before running away.

"You really like that idiot, don't you?"

"Shh Teuchi-san!"

XxX

Naruto was halfway to absolutely nowhere at all, before he heard a familiar annoying emo. Now Naruto was cool with emo kids. They were pretty cool when you got past the entire anti-social attitude. But Sasuke was a complete jerk, so he just messed it up.

"Where are you going, dobe?" asked Sasuke, who was sitting next to a red Sakura, presumably from a blush.

"Yeah Naruto, according to the old textbooks, this is where Training Ground Whatever was located.

Naruto looked around; Training Ground Whatever was a bridge?

"Why were you so late, idiot?" asked Sasuke, who looked to Sakura to back him up, but it never came, instead…

"Ne, don't call Naruto an idiot, he just didn't know. I doubt he read any books." Sakura said the last part more playfully than before. Both Naruto and Sasuke sat there surprised. Sasuke because she didn't automatically agree with everything he said, Naruto because… Sakura didn't agree with everything he said… Also, did she just pick up his speech tick?

Naruto was the first to break out of the trance, "I'm not late, I'm right on time" he said smirking.

"How do you figure that dobe? You're two hours la…"

"I agree with him, Sasuke-kun" said Kakashi as he shun-shinned into the area. Sasuke almost gagged at being called that by a male.

"Why were you late Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto with a smile. His stories always bring a smile to his face.

"I was fighting a giant creature made of jello who wanted to take over the land of jellybeans for their massive supply of coffee beans, which he could use to attain limitless chakra and envelope the moon, taking its power and ruling the world."

"Lair!" both Naruto and Sakura screamed playfully, which again, surprised Naruto, but this time Kakashi was surprised as well, but they ignored it.

(Mysteriously the highlight story in the newspapers of the land of jellybeans was about the statue dedicated to the one-eyed hero…)

"But anyway, we have something we need to do… something about a test", Kakashi pulled out two bells, "You need to retrieve these two bells. The ones who get them will be given food. The one who misses will be tied to the bridge as I let loose these hungry water snakes into the river", he pointed to the tank of water snakes behind him.

All three of them got ready, two of them dropping into the academy stances, the third dropping into the Uchiha stance.

"Piece of cake" said third one said, as he lunged forward with a kunai, piercing Kakashi with it. It just so happened that "Kakashi" was a log at that time.

"What? A log? I HATE THE LOG!" he screamed, before a voice rang put behind him.

"My my, such angst, and I never even said go…" said Kakashi, performing A Thousand Years of Pain

Sasuke rocketed forward, feeling the pain in his moonside. He landed in a tree, still rubbing it. "I WILL NOT BE HUMILIATED LIKE THAT! I AM AN UNCHIHA!"

Kakashi ignored him; as he turned to his remaining two students and said go.

Naruto and Sakura lunged forward, letting loose a barrage of attacks, all dodged while pulling out a small orange book. Their sensei started to read , and the students sweat dropped. Naruto jumped and threw a kick to Kakashi's head, which he dodged, and Sakura followed up with a punch to the Copy Ninja's lower body in the after math, which he shun-shinned away from.

He appeared behind them again, and reared up another TYoP"

Naruto saw this, and decided that now was as good a time as any to show what he could do. He released the weight seal he put on himself and immediately his speed took a boost. While he wasn't wearing as much weight as Lee was at any moment, his 75 pounds over his entire body was enough to wear down on him enough that without it, he was much faster. He managed to get away from Kakashi's attack, only to see he had turned it on Sakura. He groaned, before grabbing Sakura and pulling her out of the way.

"Wow Naruto, who knew you had such speed in reserve" said Kakashi, his one eye looking lazily at Naruto, who had a blushing Sakura in his arms, "do you think you have enough speed though?"

"Oh, you have no idea, Kakashi-sensei."

By now he had put Sakura down, and lunged at Kakashi, his speed anew. Kakashi moved to shun-shin away again, but Naruto was prepared.

"Not this time, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, while making a hand sign. The ground beneath their sensei started to glow, and Kakashi found he was unable to move, as a large seal appeared around him, with the words "immobile" written clearly.

"What?" was all Kakashi could say, before Naruto reappeared next to Sakura with both bells, handing one to Sakura.

"I wrote it while Sakura and my bunshin attacked you. Sakura played her part perfectly, good job, pink banshee." Naruto said, expecting a rebuttal, but it never came as Sakura began to blush.

'_Well their teamwork is perfect… for the two of them… but the Uchiha is a bit of a disappointment… as is this test_' thought Kakashi.

"Fine, but since Naruto got both of them, I didn't get to see much of yours, or the Uchiha's techniques, so I thought of another way to…" he started before he was cut off by the emo duck.

"YOU WANNA SEE TECHNIQUES? I'LL SHOW YOU SOME TECHNIQUES!" he said, before doing his Grand Fireball technique.

Kakashi, who wasn't expecting it, managed to jump out of the way of the giant fireball just in time to just barely get singed. It was a rather large fireball, and he wondered if the Uchiha put all of his chakra into it. Sure enough, Sasuke collapsed to the ground, tired. He looked back at the fireball… then his one eye widened in horror. He had forgotten about his other two students…

XxX

Sakura screamed as the fireball soared towards them, she couldn't make it out of the way in time. Naruto looked down at Sakura, knowing that even without her, he wouldn't make it either.

"Crap, I'm going to have to get desperate." He thought, before throwing a three pronged kunai straight through the giant fireball, then grabbed Sakura. He focused his chakra, closed his eyes… and hoped…

* * *

><p><em><strong>Cliffhangers suck, don't they? In the end I'm a horrible basher if their name isn't "Sasuke"<strong>_


	6. Chapter 6: Calm Before The Ninja Storm

_**Here you go guys, my thanksgiving present to you. I know this is a uncharacteristically long time for me to hold out on you guys, and I would like to take this time to say I may or may not be updating for a while. But I have a legitimate question at least. Should I make this into a harem? I just read some Naruto/harem ones and it seemed fun to write one... Don't get me wrong, I like Hinata being the one in the bright orange spotlight. She was the female with the most character in the series and the only one to beat Tenten in my eyes. But I don't know... I'm playing with the idea of making it a harem, or keeping it Naru/Hina.**_

_**Here you go guys, Happy Thanksgiving. I promise I'll make you an extra long Christmas chapter... Hold on... what religion does Naruto follow? .**_

* * *

><p>Chapter 6:<p>

The fire jutsu scorched the field and some of the bridge, leaving a small burning crater where the two young ninjas were standing. Kakashi rushed to the site of the impact, searching frantically for his two forgotten students.

'_Where are you? C'mon… WHERE ARE YOU? I can't be held responsible for killing two genin on their first day… Dammit Uchiha…_'

Kakashi searched and searched, but was unable to find any trace of their bodies in the charred aftermath of the attack.

"Tch, give it up Hatake… T-there's… no way… t-the dobe could… have survived that one…" Sasuke started, face down on the ground.

Kakashi chose to ignore him as his single eye continued the scan the remains of Training Ground Whatever.

"T-too bad… the girl died… as well… She was weak… But she was easy… t-the first of my children without a sweat…" he finished, smiling triumphantly, but that was until he was grabbed by his collar by a pissed pink haired kunoichi and thrown into the river. He started to flail about, but his energy soon failed him as he passed out from chakra exhaustion. The river wasn't too deep or strong though, and he eventually washed up on the bank of the river.

Kakashi looked back at Sakura, who was beginning to calm down, "Sakura? But how? Where's Naruto?"

Sakura turned around and pointed up to a branch in a tree just behind her. Sure enough, Naruto was sitting on the branch, panting heavily as his left hand rested on a three pronged kunai embedded in the tree trunk.

"Haa… Haa… You didn't think I would die so easily did you, Kakashi-sensei? Haa… Haa… I'm going to be the next Hokage after all…" he said, pulling it out of the tree. Shortly after, he fell out of the tree, exhausted. He was caught by Kakashi on his back, in a piggyback fashion. During the fall he became unconscious, his snoring a testament to it.

"Okay Team, that's enough training for today, same time tomorrow, okay?" he said, his eye going into a U-shape before disappearing. He left Sakura and an unconscious Sasuke in Training Ground Whatever. The last conscious genin walked menacingly over to the body of the last Uchiha…

XxX

Kakashi sped along the rooftops of the village as fast as he could towards the Hokage Tower. On his way there he looked up at the Hokage Monument, or rather, at a specific face. How could he not see it before? The clues all fit together… Why he was chosen to have the Kyuubi sealed into him instead of anyone else… Why he had the amazing amount of chakra… and most of all, the amazing similarity in appearance. Sure, he was no prodigy like Minato, anyone could attest to that; but Naruto has showed many times over from beating Sasuke that hard work and determination can overcome prodigies. He was suspicious when Naruto had used a seal on him during the bell test, but… only one person was able to do the Hiraishin… and he was sure the Third knew something about it.

XxX

Hiruzen was having a fine day. The sun was shining; the ninja were playing this new game craze called catch the kunai, and everyone in the village was just overall happy, so the amount of paperwork he had was minimal. He finished early and had just enough time to kick back and read his favorite little orange book. Being the aged and wizened man he was, he never elicited the small giggle that came from the other men who read the same book. He even managed to keep his face in the same way he did when he spoke to ninja who were debriefing a very important mission. He always got the newest edition, seeing as the person who wrote it was his very own student. He was just getting to the good part when there was a knock on the door. With unbelievable speed he tucked the book away in its secret hiding spot, and welcomed whoever was at the door in.

XxX

Kakashi walked into the room of the Third Hokage, with Naruto still unconscious on his back. He noticed a small orange cover of a book sitting on the top of a ledge in one of the bookshelves that littered the Hokage's office. He knew the book well, but he decided to ignore it as there were more important matters to deal with at the moment. He lay Naruto down on the couch that was newly added to the room before he stated his complaint to the Hokage, who seemed more interested now that the orange book was moved from plain sight.

"Hokage-sama, I have a question I need to ask you about one of my newest students…"

"Ah, yes, you gave them their genin test today? Not a single genin passed your test before, I'm sure the Uchiha surprised you?"

'_He sure did, but not in the way you expected_' the one eyed jonin thought, before continuing his speech.

"Yes, the Uchiha-sama was… surprising indeed… But he isn't the one that I have come here to talk about" he pointed back at the sleeping form of Naruto.

Hiruzen knew what was coming, and he sure wasn't going to be happy about it. He decided to skate around the topic some more.

"Ah, Naruto… I hope he wasn't too much trouble to you. I know how he likes to cause trouble to higher ranked ninja."

"Actually, Hokage-sama, he was actually pretty skilled. He was pretty strong, using weight increasing seals, and even some binding seals, along with quick second planning and cooperation with his teammate Sakura to overpower me in the bell test. He seems pretty good at using seals and being a leader… He almost reminds me of Minato-sensei…"

Hiruzen decided to stop him here, "I see where you are going with this, Kakashi. I think it would be best to stop looking into this now, before you get in too deep with something that would better be left alone. Whatever you're speculating is all the information you need. Now I trust that you dismissed your team?" Kakashi nodded yes, "well then it would probably be better to leave Naruto here overnight. You are dismissed, Kakashi."

With a bow and a quick glance at what he now considered his most interesting pupil, Kakashi left, a small smile on his face from the hidden clue the Third gave him. Naruto was still asleep on the couch, which Hiruzen was now walking over to. When he reached there, he placed his hand on the boy's stomach, almost feeling the heat he was sure was emanating from the fox. He lifted the boy's shirt up, and ran a little chakra into the seal, causing it to appear. Hiruzen, while no seals master, was a good analyzer of them. The seal was still the same as it was when Minato first placed it, only the spiral was slightly more untwist, meaning that more of the fox's chakra was leaking into Naruto's.

'_Naruto, you are becoming more and more skilled each day, even being able to best Kakashi like that, but you are getting ahead of yourself…_' Hiruzen thought. He pulled Naruto's shirt back down and continued to read his little orange book…

XxX

Hinata was worried. She was more than worried, actually. Naruto didn't show up for his ramen today… That has NEVER happened before. She searched everywhere she was sure Naruto would be other than there, which was only one other place, seeing as the village wouldn't let him relax anywhere else. She carefully made her way to the place, having discovered it herself after stalking, er, following Naruto from a distance. When she reached there, the view took her breath away, just as it did the first time she came there. The top of the Hokage Monument made for a beautiful sight. The four faces carved into the side of the mountain that overlooked the village made for an impressive sight to anyone looking up at it, but looking down from it was an entirely different story. It was almost as if you were seeing through the eyes of the four Hokages, who looked dutifully over the village day and night. She remembered when Naruto first took her here, and the words he said to her…

_Flashback No Jutsu_

"C'mon Hinata! There's something that I wanna show you!" he screamed, flashing his brightest smile that day.

"Okay, Naruto-kun! I'm not as fast as you are!" Hinata gasped. They had been running ever since the villagers started throwing stuff at them. Since Hinata was there, only the truly brave threw items, and with that, only fruit, but they were still throwing things nonetheless. Now they were in the forest just outside the village, and he was leading her through the maze of trees and branches. She had gotten lost several times, and had to use her Byukugan to keep up with his movements. She was able to keep track of him now, but his took a lot of chakra and it was exhausting her. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath.

"Ne, tired Hinata-chan?" asked Naruto walking back over to where she was bent over, her hands on her knees.

"Y-yeah, I'm not able to keep up with you when you're moving so fast, Naruto-kun."

"Well, next time you get lost, I won't be able to find you if you don't have your Byukugan…" he said, before he had an idea, "Hinata-chan! I have an idea!"

Naruto moved closer to Hinata, and then picked her up bridal style. He then proceeded to run through the forest the fastest he could. Hinata blushed a deep shade of crimson, but managed to hide it by pushing her face into Naruto's chest as they breezed past the branches. This caused her to blush more, but at least it hid her face.

It was a little over half a minute when Naruto finally put her back down. She got down slowly, her legs a little wobbly. She came the easy way last time she was here, and didn't know that the Hokage Monument had such a long back entryway.

"Naruto-kun… why did we have to go the long way when we could have just taken the stairs?"

"Because, Hinata, if we were being followed and they knew where I go when I leave Ichiraku's then they would swarm me even here, in my secret hiding spot. We went that way to make sure that there was no way they could follow me here."

Hinata pouted her angry pout, "I don't see why you put up with them Naruto-kun"

"Heh-heh, well, that was kind of the reason why I chose to bring you up here, Hinata-chan!" he said, grabbing her hand, which caused her to blush. He lead her over to the head of the Fourth, which she hesitated to climb onto.

"Naruto-kun… I don't think…"

"It'll be fine Hina-chan" he said, flashing his smile again. Hinata found herself unable to say no, and let him pull her away.

When they reached the head, Hinata saw the view for the first time. The view of the village was breathtaking. All of it could be seen from their vantage point, and she was a little taken back from the view.

"Hinata-chan, the first time I came up here was when I was really small, and the orphanage finally kicked me out. It wasn't a very good orphanage, they were really poor, and as such could only feed me bits and scraps of food so that the other kids could eat real food…"

"But Naruto-kun!"

"Yes, Hinata, I know they were tricking me… now, but then I didn't. Nevertheless, it was still a pretty good place. The kids there weren't being told not to play with me, unlike the kids who had families. It's funny how the purest souls were the ones who were the most unfortunate. They would sometimes share food with me when we played, and I still talk to them sometimes, even though their adoptive parents tell them not to, but only glancing hi's. When I got kicked out of the orphanage, I was crushed. It wasn't a very good home, but it was the only one I knew. I was only eight at the time anyway."

At the last statement Hinata clasped her hands over her mouth.

Naruto continued, "I was walking through the streets, looking for something to eat, and that's when the village tradition of throwing stuff at me started. I was actually able to get some food out of that, but of course the black eye and cuts from the sharper objects made it a little less worth it. I was running away from the villagers, tears coming out of my left eye, the right one being glued shut after I was nailed by an apple. I wasn't really looking where I was going; I was just running until I couldn't hear the voices anymore. They were screaming really hurtful things. I couldn't understand all of it, but I think that it may be better that I didn't. When I couldn't hear them anymore, I stopped and ended up here. I was crying my soul out, cursing the village and everyone in it."

Hinata looked down, feeling ashamed of herself and her village. Naruto saw her, and lifted her face to get her to look at him. She expected to see hatred, but instead his eyes were warm and inviting, he continued his story.

"I was seriously considering leaving the village, and I almost did it too, but for some reason I had to walk to the end of the cliff. It was like it was calling to me. When I reached the end, for some reason, I ended up on the Fourth's head, and that's when I saw it. The village was beautiful. At that time I didn't know about my parents, but the Fourth was still my hero, and I saw what he died trying to protect. For some reason I felt that _he_ wouldn't hate me like everyone else did, and what being a hero was truly about. Even if they hated me, even if I don't like them either, I decided that I was going to protect the village like my hero did, and become something that everyone would acknowledge. It's a good thing I decided that, huh? In the future I would meet Grandpa Hokage, Iruka-sensei, and most of all…" Naruto looked Hinata in her eyes, before pulling her into a deep hug, and whispering in her ear, "most of all, I met you, Hina-chan. Just hanging out with you sort of makes all the hurt and pain go away."

Hinata was crying now, but returned the hug with a fierce passion. She almost wanted to hug him until all the bad went away. She had a glimpse of his life, but she never knew how hard it really was. They continued the hug for the rest of the evening. Naruto was happy he had someone to hold him, Hinata was happy she could be the one to do just that.

_Flashback No Jutsu End_

Hinata sat down on the head of the Fourth, having seen Naruto not there, and having nowhere else to look for him. She just looked out over the village she called home, and let her thoughts roam freely. She lay back, seeing the stars and moon just starting to show themselves in the night sky. She didn't have family training tonight, as her father wanted to train Hanabi after so long, so she just lay there, letting herself drift off to sleep.

XxX

Just as Hinata was going to sleep, Naruto was waking up from his own slumber. He looked around to find himself in the office of the Hokage, so he mentally prepared himself for a lecture as that was the only reason he ever ended up there. He rose off the sofa and tried to sneak out the door, but he was stopped as soon as his hand reached the door.

"Your stealth skills could use some work", said a familiar old voice from behind him. Naruto turned around slowly, fear shaking him in his bones. He knew that calm tone of voice, and it signaled the calm before the storm.

"S-sorry ojii-san… I'll try harder next time, so, bye!" Naruto screamed, making a break for the door, only to find himself strapped down in a chair before the desk of his grandfather figure.

Hiruzen paced back and forth, before starting his interrogation, "Naruto, I hear that you passed Kakashi's test today… That's rare… so rare that you may be the only ones to ever do it. Do you wanna tell me how?"

Naruto gulped, before he started to explain how he did it.

"You placed a weight increasing seal on yourself to help you train? Impressive, it seems that you were taking your studies of your clan jutsu very seriously. Are you still wearing it now?"

Naruto nodded, and signaled his head towards his left arm. "It's only on my left arm, so I modified it to spread evenly over my entire body."

"You're modifying seals now? Impressive Naruto; you've come farther in such a short amount of time than most others do in a lifetime. You seem to have a real knack for fuinjutsu. Was the immobilization seal a work of yours as well?"

"Yeah ojii-san! I modified it so that it didn't just glue your feet to the ground, but kept your entire body still. You can't even do any hand seals with it activated!" Naruto screamed excitedly.

Hiruzen was impressed as well, but he had to get on to the part that concerned him, "Naruto, you're getting good at this, but even I know it takes a while to write a seal, no matter how simple, and Kakashi isn't one to let you just trap him like that, even if he was going easy on you. How did you distract him?"

"Er, Sakura and a bunshin of mine kept him busy."

"But… you can't do the bunshin, Naruto… Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Er… would you believe me if I told you that I learned how to do it?"

"Naruto, we went over why you can't do the bunshin. If you want to lie, which is a great skill for ninjas, learn to do it well."

Naruto sighed, "Okay… while I was getting the last of the Uzumaki scrolls out of the vault, another scroll rolled out into my path, and I may have learned something off of it before I put it back…"

"Oh? And what was the name of this technique that you learned, Naruto?"

"Um, the Shadow Clone Jutsu?"

Hiruzen became livid. He could almost feel his blood pressure rising, "NARUTO! WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT LOOKING AT THE FORBIDDEN SCROLLS!"

Naruto shrank back in the confines of his entrapment. This is the third time he felt the enormous amount of Ki flowing off of the old man. He was old, but he was still the most powerful ninja in his village, and damn it, Naruto was not about to get on his bad side.

"THOSE ARE CALLED THE FORBIDDEN SCROLLS FOR A REASON!" he continued, his voice getting ever louder as time passed. After a while, Anbu appeared in the room to warn Hiruzen about his blood pressure… and the blood pressure of everyone else in the village. His Ki scared people across the entire village. After calming down and dismissing the Anbu, he returned to Naruto, who was still sweating, and continued his lecture.

"Listen, the shadow clone technique is a forbidden jutsu for a reason. It divides the user's chakra into the even amounts supplied for each clone. You also need a certain amount of chakra to make and sustain them. As such it can drain the chakra you have almost immediately. That's why I didn't want you to learn it."

"But ojii-san, I can't do the bunshin because of the baka fox, since I have too much chakra to make one correctly… Since I have too much, I thought I might as well put it to good use… besides, kage bunshin never gave me any trouble..." Naruto said, then made the single sign needed to do kage bunshin.

"_Tajuu Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!_"

With a puff of smoke, the Hokage's office was filled to the brim with bright orange clones. This by itself was bad enough… but now the entire village was overrun by the things as well. They were running everywhere… into shops, buildings, and some even ran into the academy.

Hiruzen was now smashed against the wall of his office. Not a single bit of leg room was left in his otherwise big office.

"N-Naruto… re-release your clones… please?" he managed to sputter out.

A muffled reply came from the other side of the office, and the entire office was filled with smoke, signaling the release of the clones. When the smoke cleared, Hiruzen was still coughing from both being smashed into a wall and having to breath in the smoke from the technique. He looked up to see Naruto smiling away, his eyes closed, while rubbing the back of his head the way he does. He was a little ruffled up from being smashed into a room with more than a hundred different clones, but other than that he was no worse for the wear. He was as bright and energetic as ever.

Hiruzen was more than a little shocked, but at least now he was coming to expect it. Naruto was truly a Number One Hyperactive Knuckleheaded Ninja, always doing the unexpected.

"Naruto… you don't feel tired at all? Not in the slightest?" Hiruzen asked, still looking at the boy as if he would explode into a thousand pieces and he would wake up from a weird dream. No one was able to make that many shadow clones at once. Even some of his experienced ANBU could only make ten before collapsing.

"Ne? What do you mean? They're just clones. I've seen you guys make thousands of clones."

"Yes Naruto, but they were based around something else, like mud or water. Shadow clones are made out of pure chakra, and as such can be made anywhere. This requires more chakra to sustain them, and as such they are a lot harder to maintain. They also take a lot more chakra to make."

"Haha! Then that means that I'm awesome! But is it normal for you to get headaches right after you release the clones?"

"No, Naruto, most clones don't do that. Shadow clones are special. Since they're made entirely out of chakra, a little bit of chakra returns to you after you are done with them. The clones have your chakra, and therefore your personality and thought process. When they dispel, their thoughts and memories return to you as well. It's like being in multiple places at once. When you dispel such a big amount like you did just now, the swell of information that comes rushing back to you at once would most likely cause you to have a headache."

"So… they can relate all of their experiences to me? No matter what?"

"Yes, Naruto."

"So, I can use them to train and study the scrolls?"

Hiruzen stood up and walked around his desk to where Naruto was sitting. He was unrestrained now; one of his clones having somehow released him while the room was full of them. Hiruzen sighed heavily before answering, "Well, yes, but I don't want you to learn too fast. You already know something that I didn't want you know as of yet." He reached into Naruto's pocket and pulled out the three-pronged kunai that was resting in there. It had the words "Body Flicker Technique" written on it in an intricate seal, something Naruto couldn't have made as of yet.

"I didn't want you to learn the Hiraishin yet, Naruto. What if you got hurt while you were doing it? What if you use too little chakra and you leave behind one of your feet?"

"Ne, then I could just teleport everywhere!" he yelled, which earned him a smack in the back of his head by the Hokage.

The old man sighed, before relaxing back in his chair behind his desk he sighed a lot whenever Naruto was around, "Just promise me that that's the last time you use it before I can get you proper training in it."

"Ne… fine ojii-san, I won't" Naruto said, standing up, "can I leave now? Unless you wanna buy me ramen…" the last part being said with a little more hope than before.

Hiruzen looked to be thinking for a moment, before respectively declining, not wanting to lose all of his money in one night.

Naruto chuckled, then bolted out of the door.

XxX

Naruto was walking around for a while now. He had absolutely no where to go! He couldn't go to Ichiraku's because it was already closed, and he couldn't go home because he wasn't tired. He had been sleeping all day in the Hokage's office so he wasn't near sleepy now that it was night. He would head home just to relax, but he learned to spend as little time at home as possible. It just made him an easy target for the villagers to attack him. He received a few glares from some people, who seemed to be glaring at him harder than usual. Probably pent up glaring energy they had been saving. He hadn't noticed before, but nowadays he was rarely without Hinata at his side, and when she was near, glares weren't dared sent his way. He started to wonder what time it was. Hyuuga-san would mind one quick visit wouldn't he? Even if he didn't, he would go to see her anyway. For some reason not seeing Hinata for one whole day left him feeling empty.

Naruto turned around to head to the Hyuuga compound when the very man he was thinking about was coming his way. He was in a dead run, his face showing the smallest hint of fear, something which scared Naruto to his core.

Hiashi ran straight to Naruto after finding him with his Byakugan. He was the only one in the entire village with chakra coils that large in a body so small. He was breathing heavily, his breath seeming foreign to him. He didn't care at the moment, though. He had something very important to talk about.

"Naruto!" Hiashi asked, a little louder than he usually talked. To anyone else it would sound as if it were a normal speaking voice, but to Naruto, who knew Hiashi, he might as well have been screaming.

"Naruto! Do you know where Hinata is?" he asked.

Naruto grimaced a bit, but otherwise kept his face still, "I thought she was with you Hiashi-san. I was coming over there just now to say good night."

Hiashi cursed under his breath, "Fine, thanks Naruto" he said, before turning to leave. Naruto watched as Hiashi disappeared in an incredible speed, Byakugan blazing, before he turned to start his own search of the village. He made the hand sign, then did shadow clone jutsu. About fifty Narutos appeared, and with a nod from the original, they all split up to look for Hinata in different places around the village. Naruto decided to look from a better vantage point, while his clones looked from the ground.

It took Naruto almost no time at all to reach the top of the mountain using the stairs. He almost wanted to use it all of the time, but he didn't want to risk his hiding spot. He wasn't sure why no one else ever came up here, but he wasn't about to complain. He ran to the edge of the cliff, and onto the Fourth's Head to get an overview of the village to see if there were any places his clones may have missed; on his way though he tripped over something. He fell to the ground face first, and started to rub it. He looked back and saw that it wasn't something… but someone!

XxX

Hinata stirred in her sleep. Something hit her hard. Whatever it was, she was going to gentle fist the life out of it for interrupting her dream of her and Naruto-kun kissing in a rather romantic scene. She turned over, rubbing her side, before getting ready to face her assailant. Whoever he was, he was really stupid for not taking his kill when he had the chance, now he was screwed. She bolted immediately up from where she was laying and charged headfirst for her assassin. She tried to hit a couple times with gentle fist, but they all missed. A few connected here and there, but after a quick over with his hand he seemed to be fine. This confused her, as there were only two people who could open tenketsu points like that, and she was sure she wasn't fighting herself, so that meant that the person she was fighting against was…

Hinata rubbed her eyes frantically, when she opened them again her eyes immediately snapped to the bright orange jumpsuit standing in front of her, its hands in the air trying to ward her off.

"Hinata! It's me! Its Naruto!" he screamed, a little surprised at the attack.

Hinata fell out of her fighting stance, tears almost coming to her eyes. She lunged at him again, but this time it was to wrap her arms around his neck as she buried her face into his chest.

"N-Naruto-kun…"

"Hehe, it's okay Hinata-chan, I know you didn't mean it. I didn't mean to trip over you either, so I guess we're even." Naruto chuckled, while wrapping his arms around Hinata as well. He flared his chakra a few times in a set pattern to let a certain person know where he was…

Hinata punched him lightly, "H-how could you miss me lying on t-top of a huge head?"

"I was kind of in a hurry"

"Oh? W-what was so important that you were in a hurry?"

Naruto blushed lightly, "N-nothing… I was just looking for something… Something very important… What about you? Why were you up here so late?" he asked, trying to turn the tide of the argument.

It was now Hinata's turn to blush, "N-nothing… I was just looking for something important as well…"

They stood like that for a few more moments, Hinata nearly swooning from their close contact, before Hiashi appeared on top of the head, his face back to its emotionless stature. Hinata immediately jumped away from Naruto and bowed deeply.

"O-otou-san" she stuttered.

Hiashi looked impassively, before ushering her over. When she came within reaching distance he swiftly knocked her out.

"You have no idea how much you made me worry Hinata…" he mumbled to the unconscious Hyuuga hier, before turning to Naruto, "thank you Naruto, you can release the clone army you sent for her now."

Naruto nodded, and instantly poofs of smoke appeared all over the village.

Hiashi nodded as well, before turning with Hinata and shun-shinning away. This left Naruto alone on the top of the Hokage monument. He went over to where he found Hinata sleeping, and laid down where she was, the area still a little warm from when she and her ridiculously big jacket was still there. He decided that he was going to sleep here for the night; it was probably safer than his own house anyway. He looked up at the stars for a bit, before turning and relishing the last of the remaining heat on the rock head, thanking the heavens for hot summers. As he was drifting off to sleep, his last thoughts were if this was anything like falling asleep with someone to hold you…

XxX

Naruto woke up and rubbed his eyes groggily. For some reason he didn't feel completely awake… or alive for that matter. He walked through the hallway, still feeling almost floaty. The hallway was really dark, almost pitch black. He wondered if the stupid landlord cut off his electricity again. He walked a bit more, before noticing something else was weird. The floor was soaking wet! Did he leave the sink running again? As he neared the end of the hallway he realized that the hallway in his apartment wasn't this long. He then realized that he didn't even go home before he went to sleep… so where was he? He decided to continue to walk, and he soon reached the end of the hall. In front of him stood a large gate blocking off a den of some sorts. In the middle of the gate stood a seal unlike he had ever seen before. He wanted to study it a bit, but a large grunt disturbed his actions. From behind the bars a loud yawn came, which was followed by short, jerking movements. After a short moment, two huge eyes that were full of bloodlust sneaked their way out of the darkness, focusing on the only other living thing in the immediate area, Naruto.


	7. Chapter 7: The Origin of Kyuubi Part 1

_**Hey there guys! Sorry for the wait! I really did not mean to keep you waiting so long! I was kind of busier than I thought I would be, but hey, at least you get a fight scene! I'm really sorry about the grammar problems, as I do not have a beta, but there aren't that many. Sorry for the lack of Naru or Hina in this chapter, but this is really starting to become much more than that at this point, huh?**_ **_Don't worry, it will be full of it in the next chapter, and by the end I will try to make it so satisfying! Thanks for sticking by me guys, Happy New Year!_**

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><p>Chapter 7: The Meeting with the Fox<p>

The Nine-Tailed demon fox was the strongest of the juubi's. He could level mountains and cause tsunamis with just a swing of one of its mighty tails. It's very name scared other beasts into hiding and it commanded total control over the rest of the known world. That was until several years ago, when he met two unreasonably strong individuals…

_Flashback No Jutsu_

It was a very hot day for the Kyuubi. Being a huge chakra demon tends to make you hotter than everyone else on a normal basis. He was lying in a rather large forest in the middle of Fire Country after leaving Wind Country. He stopped here on his way to Wave Country, where he could hopefully cool off. He was rather happy, as all his fellow bijuus were all trapped away in some pathetic human or another. They were mostly all stupid enough to throw themselves into the throes of strong villages looking for bloodshed. He was perfectly fine with the idea of bloodshed, but attacking a place with a lot of power tended to be dangerous. He was surprised the Nibi and the Hachibi were caught, the Nibi being the only rival to his intelligence, and the Hachibi being the only one who was content with sleeping in the bottom of the sea for millions of years.

Then again, the Hachibi might have let himself get caught, just to get a free place to sleep.

Nevertheless, Kyuubi was now the last free bijuu, and his rule was uncontested. He was sure that this made him the most powerful being in existence right? Wrong…

The Kyuubi's ears twitched as he heard the branches breaking behind him. He released a small amount of killer intent, which from him was still a lot, to deter the wayward traveler. It worked, as the figure stopped for a few seconds, but it continued its path toward the 'great fox'. When it came within the sight of the fox, now up and tails roaring, it appeared to be a man in a black cloak. He had no distinguishing features other than his spiral orange mask that covered all of his face. It revealed an eyehole, but that was the extent of the mask.

Kyuubi roared and released a bit more of his killer intent, which caused the man to visibly shake, but that was as far as he went before he started to speak.

"Greetings, Great Kyuubi. I see that you're in a great mood as of now?" the man asked with a jest. A playful tone evident in the way he spoke. He was once again a picture of the perfect calm before the giant red beast. His body mannerisms were small to nonexistent as he craned his neck to stare down the fox.

Kyuubi chuckled in his head. The mortal had brass, he would give him that, but he was still too rude in front of a greater being.

"**WHO DARES TO DISTURB ME IN MY REST?"**

The man simply responded, "Sorry, where are my manners? I know everything about you, Kyuubi No Yoko, but you simply know nothing of me… I am a simple ninja from… ah… the Village Hidden in the Leaves, in fact, it's not too far from here. I am here to offer you a little… proposition… if you will… You will attack the very village I just described for me, while I go to run some… errands… As for my name, its… ah… let's not worry about that for now", he ended with a smirk from behind his creepy mask.

The Kyuubi chuckled again, this time out loud, as the small mortal continued to talk. He reared back one of his claws and swiped at the man, creating a large crater where he once stood. A single black cloak blew from the wreck and Kyuubi laughed before laying back down to enjoy the rest of his evening. As he was lying back to rest his head in his arms, he saw the man sitting there, as if nothing had ever happened.

The man now stood at eye level with the fox's lowered head, dwarfed by the said eye. His visible eye swirled as he chanted his next words.

"Oh Great Kyuubi! It seems you have gifted me a great opportunity today! I get to use my newest toy…"

These were the last words Kyuubi heard that day…

XxX

The Village shook as tremors were heard all around.

The Uchiha, the loyal wielders of the legendary doujustu trembled as their eyes registered the threat…

The Senju, the proud warriors of a thousand techniques cowered as they sensed the horrible chakra…

The Shodai Hokage geared up as he walked through his new village, his subjects trembling around him. His younger brother, Tobirama, walked beside him, also geared for battle. On his other side, he felt his hand grabbed by another, one much softer. He turned to see his soon to be wife, Mito Uzumaki. She trembled a bit as well, but her eyes showed the Uzumaki determination and he knew she would follow him to hell if need be. Knowing what was about to happen, the Shodai half expected that to be similar to where he was heading. The three powerful ninjas approached the exit to their newly formed village, a small gate the size of a tree or two, when a small, young boy ran up to them and grabbed their hands. The Shodai turned to see who it was, and when he saw who, he chuckled.

"Hiruzen, why are you here?" Hashirama asked with a smile, trying to keep his voice as calm and gentle as possible. The other two saw this and followed suit.

"It's a little dangerous out here right-", Tobirama started, as a loud roar erupted through the area. People could be seen passing out in the entire village from the sheer KI alone. Tobirama flinched, but continued anyway, "-now. Go back in your house, little monkey."

"Yeah, Hiru-kun. We will be back shortly." Mito said, patting Hiruzen on the head. He calmed down a little from her touch but broke away, his determination anew.

"No way! I wanna go too, sensei! I know what's out there! I wanna protect my village! I am not afraid!" he yelled.

The three were stunned, before laughing. Shodai looked on at his brother's student, and decided to try to gift him with a few of his techniques if he returned. He squeezed Mito's hand at these thoughts, looking at her belly, the smallest hint of sadness coming across his face.

He turned back to the young Hiruzen of the Sarutobi clan and smiled, before bending down to his level.

"Tell you what, Hiruzen. We need to go out there and fight a really bad monster. Because of this, we have no one to protect our fair village. Can you do this for me? It's a very important job I can give to no one else."

Hiruzen looked on at the Shodai, trying to detect any signs of lying, but found none. His face brightened up, before becoming resolute, "I promise Hokage-sama!" he yelled, before turning and running off screaming about his will being stronger than even the fire of his country.

"Will of Fire, huh…" Hashirama thought, "I find that very interesting…"

The three set off for what would be known as the Valley of the End.

XxX

Hashirama arrived at the deep valley near the giant waterfall. It was mostly empty, but he could feel the evil chakra reverberating through the area. He stepped onto the water and looked around, getting himself ready for the fight he was about to undergo. When he reached the middle of the lake formed by the giant waterfall, he heard rustling behind him. With a speed almost naked to the human eye, he turned, and saw his fiancé.

"Mito… I thought I told you to stay behind…"

"Since when do I ever listen to you?"

Hashirama chuckled, "of course"

Waves rippled throughout the pond as the earth shook. Mito, who was still standing on the bank of the lake, fell, as Hashirama stumbled on the water. Birds flew away to safety and the animals of the forest started making noise as they sensed the danger that came their way. Without a word, Mito appeared next to her husband and fell into a defensive stance and the Shodai Hokage responded by putting his back to her. A roar shook the area and from the top of the waterfall giant footsteps could be heard.

"Ready honey?" the Shodai asked.

"Ready as ever" Mito responded.

XxX

Hiruzen was scared as he could hear the sounds of battle. His sensei was returned to the village a while ago by a kage bunshin of the Hokage. He looked over the body of the future Nidaime and tried to heal the many cuts and bruises across his body… Who exactly could do this to him?

XxX

Hashirama and Mito fell back from the last attack from their opponent. They were breathing heavily as they felt the pressure that was being put on them. Hashirama pulled out a kunai to prepare for the next attack that he was sure to come. This person was the only person who could push him this far.

Before them was probably the most scary thing that a ninja would ever think to see. A Mangekyou Sharingan, fully matured and blazing, was coming from the strongest Uchiha known during the time, Madara Uchiha. He was standing on top of the strongest bijuu at the time, the Kyuubi No Kitsune… They were fighting as if they were a perfect team, almost in perfect unison, but something about them seemed… wrong… they were _too_ in unison…

The demon/ ninja duo lunged forward and launched another attack. Kyuubi slashed downwards and created a ditch with his claw. The two ninja were barely able to escape as they jumped out of the way of the attack, but right before them appeared Madara, finishing his hand seals for his Grand Fireball technique. He released the jutsu point blank on them midair, and they were completely engulfed by the flame. The fire reached out and consumed the formerly tree filled forest for miles ahead, leaving not even ashes in its wake. When the smoke cleared, nothing remained.

Back behind the waterfall appeared a charred Shodai and his fiancé. They both breathed heavily as they tried to catch their breath.

"Im-impossible… how could they be this strong…" Mito asked.

"I don't know… Madara wasn't even this good when we fought most recently… He seems to have gotten sloppy in his technique, but in return he seems to be able to see everywhere… Even the Sharingan can't do that…"

At that moment footsteps appeared from the back of the cave. When they looked up, a man in a black cloak and an orange mask walked forward. His eye showed the Sharingan clearly in the dark cave.

"Well, that's because I'm controlling them, my dear Hashirama…" he said, almost laughing, "if you look over a story from the third person its easy to see everything that's happening…"

Hashirama jumped up and got back into a defensive stance, "who are you?" he screamed.

"Who I am doesn't matter… what matters now what's about to happen to you…" the man said, then raised his hands, his palms pointing towards the ninja couple

"Wind Style: Great Gale" he said, as a huge gust of wind whipped through the cave and pushed them out. Mito and Hashirama landed squarely in the middle of the lake, standing on top of the water, while the masked man simply floated high above using the wind chakra. Behind them they could hear the roar of the Kyuubi and feel the chakra of Madara.

"How are you controlling them?" Hashirama snarled at the masked man. He got no response however as the masked man just sent a blade of concentrated air towards them. When they jumped out of the way, they were met with taijutsu attacks from Madara and a chakra infused tail whip from the Kyuubi. While it missed Mito, Hashirama was hit head on and thrown away at high speed.

"Well that's one problem" the masked man said, then turned to look at Mito, "Now what shall we do about you?" The Nine Tails and Madara loomed over the female Uzumaki, eerily still, awaiting orders from their leader.

"Ah, I know, how about I crush you under my beast? Does that sound good to you?" he asked, raising his hand. Like the strings of a puppet, the Nine Tails rose from its sitting posture and immediately moved above the still weakened Mito. She looked up in fear as the beast completely dwarfed her with just his claw alone. The man slowly lowered his hand, and the Kyuubi's paw followed obediently until it lightly touched the tip of her head. She reclined to a laying position, but the claw followed until it was over her entire body. The masked man was milking her death.

"Hahahaha! Any last words Uzumaki trash?"

Mito remained silent.

"Then die!" the masked man said. He was about to finish his hand's decline, when he heard laughter ring throughout the air. When he heard it was coming from Mito, for the first time that day he was confused. "What's so funny?"

Mito continued to laugh, but managed to stop laughing long enough to answer, "N-nothing… it's just that I didn't actually think that his plan would work..." No sooner had she said that, did a giant seal appear around her and expanded outwards from her. Soon it enveloped both the giant beast and her, with her at the center.

"I would think that warning bells would go off when I let you try to squish me while I'm still on the water"

The seal started to glow after she said that and the Kyuubi's chakra started to sink and flow into Mito. The Kyuubi roared in pain as he started to shrink into a smaller size. After a few seconds, he was half the size he used to be, which was still pretty big. It was around this time that the control on him was released, and he was able to remember what had happened to him. With a snarl, he swiped at the masked man, which lightly grazed his torso, before becoming fully sealed in the body of the young seal master.

"Ha… Ha… I did it… Now it's all up to you… honey…" she panted, before passing out and sinking into the lake. Madara was sent the order to attack her, but tree roots sprung up and trapped him. Symbols on the roots started to glow green, and for a second the Mangekyou Sharingan in Madara's eyes was deactivated.

"Wood Art: Style Cancel Jutsu"

Madara started to writhe in agony before finally stopping. When he was fully done, the roots retracted and released him. He sprang forward into the lake and reemerged with Mito in tow. He lay her down on the bank of the lake before turning around and looking at the wounded masked man that was floating in the air. His Mangekyou Sharingan reactivated and KI rolled off his body in spades. Hashirama joined him at his side and the ninja released KI that would scare a tailed beast. The two ninja stood firm and tall as they stared dawn the masked man. As the memories came rushing back to him, Madara's eyes narrowed.

"Why couldn't you release me sooner, Senju…" he asked, not taking his eyes off of the masked man.

"We had to get rid of the Nine Tails. We couldn't take the risk of letting him go free from the control and running on a rampage. We saw a chance and we took it."

"Ah, I see"

"Indeed"

The masked man was starting to go insane by now, "You know, whatever! I don't even care how many people are on your side. You can't beat me."

"We'll see about that. You got me by surprise last time, but now I am fully aware of your powers. Even without Hashirama setting me free, I would have been released soon anyway, wouldn't I have been? The amount of chakra you need to pull off that genjutsu is large, and I can see that you don't have nearly enough left to do it again."

The masked man was shocked. The weight of the situation was starting to dawn on him. Maybe these two actually got their reputation for power by earning it…

Hashirama was the first to attack. He focused chakra in his legs and used it to enhance his jumping power. He accelerated through the air and reached the masked man in almost no time at all. He reared back a fist and pushed it into the skull of his enemy, but his attack went right through him. As a matter of fact, his entire body went right through him. Hashirama landed on the other side of the lake near the waterfall and looked up incredulously.

Madara scoffed, "Always punches first, think later… huh Hashirama? Direct attacks won't work on this one. I don't know how, but somehow his Sharingan is allowing him to warp space and time. When you attack him he can make himself intangible."

Hashirama laughed, "The Sharingan… always going to be a pain in my a**… Well then how do you suppose we beat him, oh mighty planner?"

"Well, all jutsu have drawbacks, his is not having unlimited chakra. He was already drained by controlling both me and that overgrown flea bag. Eventually he will run out of the chakra he needs to execute that little trick of his. All we have to do is not let up on our attacks."

"So you want us to continue to attack until he gets tired… ingenious plan…"

"Do you have a better one?"

"No, considering you stole mine just now."

"Dobe" replied Madara.

"Teme" said Hashirama as he prepared another attack. His hands flashed through some hand signs, and when he was done he screamed, "Water Style: Water Dragon No Jutsu"

A dragon of water appeared from the lake and lunged toward the masked ninja. It flew right through him and collapsed back into harmless water.

"Try again, Hashirama" he said, before performing the wind blade technique. Instead of one blade this time, though, hundreds shot from all parts his body.

_**Wood Style: Barrier Tree Jutsu**_. Hashirama said. A wall of tree roots sprang out of the ground and shielded him from the brunt of the attack.

_**Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu. **_Madara said after completing hand seals. A gigantic fireball came forth from his mouth and enveloped the wind blades as well as the masked ninja. When the fireball passed through, the man was unscathed.

"Actually, new plan, this is getting sad. Let's go all out", screamed Madara to his partner. His Sharingan mutated to a new form and purple bones of chakra started to form around his body. He started to float in the air in said chakra until finally it formed a big skeleton of pure purple chakra. Madara continued to float in the middle, then clapped his hands together, "Level 2." Thicker chakra formed over the bones and stuck together in the gapes of the skeleton. It started to form a sort of armor and eventually only the yellow "eyes" of the chakra being could be seen, "Level 3." The armor cocoon whined as two pairs of hands emerged from the either side of it. The armor split and now four eyes could be seen. With one looking each way, the technique looked as if it was a conjoined soldier. One pair of arms held out its hands and a sword formed in them. The other pair put its hands in a cup form and a chakra shuriken formed.

"My strongest technique… Susanoo…" Madara said. The massive chakra beast turned and threw the shuriken at the masked man, of which it promptly passed through. The attack was responded with more wind blades down on Susanoo, which did nothing as well.

"You're gonna need more than that, you Uchiha disgrace." Said Madara, which angered the masked man. A blade of wind formed around his arm, making him a blade arm. He charged forward and swiped at Susanoo at lightning speeds, which had no actual impact. Susanoo turned and slashed with his sword while he was in the middle of a swing and scored the first successful attack on the masked man, sending him crashing backwards through several trees.

'_Finally a hit!' _Madara gasped, '_But why?'_ he didn't have long to think, though, as the masked man reemerged from the wreckage and charged back at him again. He used an earth jutsu to collapse the ground around Susanoo, and Madara was forced to release the jutsu in order to escape the attack. As soon as he was free, his armor was slashed several times by the wind blade from the masked man, whose mask was now cracked. Madara attempted to pull out his kunai, but the man was fast. Before his hand even reached his holster, it was cut by the wind blade, and he had to pull it back to keep it from being cut off.

Hashirama was watching the battle with a scrutinous eye. He had seen when Madara had gotten in the only successful hit, but he was puzzled as to how he had done it. What did he do? Did Susanoo's sword have special properties? No, otherwise the shuriken would have it as well… Damn… what exactly was different about the time when the sword attacked and when all the others did?

By now Madara had several scratches all over his body. He was bleeding from many places across his body and the masked man was just continuing his onslaught. What the hell was that Senju doing? He had very little strength left to do more than the occasional block, but that was nothing before the never ending speed of the man. He was now bordering on unconscious from the lack of blood. He could see through blurry eyes that the masked man was readying his finishing attack when a glowing tree sprang from the ground and enveloped the masked man.

"I'm sure you're familiar with this one? It's the one I used to stop your jutsu earlier… _**Wood Style: Style Cancel Jutsu**_"

The masked man tried to phase through the attack but found out he couldn't.

"Having trouble? You can't phase, or do any jutsu for that matter, while you're in contact with that tree. I figured out your weakness, goodbye Uchiha scum" said Hashirama as he readied his next jutsu. It was a sealing jutsu he learned from his wife. As he was about to be finished, the man started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Hashirama asked, stopping on his last seal. By this time Madara was just getting up from the onslaught put on him. His eyes were still blurry, but his Sharingan was still activated. He looked over to the Shodai and his prisoner, and those same eyes grew wider.

"Hashirama! Finish your technique now!"

"Too slow" the masked man said, before biting down on his tongue. A small seal in his mouth that he was filling with chakra sprang to life from the activation code, his own blood. Within seconds, everything in a one mile radius was enveloped in fire…

For about ten seconds…

"Repel" was the one calm word said, before the fire receded into a compact ball the size of a marble, and was sent high into the sky. The masked man was lying unconscious on the ground, and Hashirama was bordering on doing the same. He looked up at Madara and saw a change in his eyes… they looked like rings? He was confused as he collapsed on the ground, finishing the seal in his descent. The man was locked in a cage of several elements, some of which required a kekkai gekkai to release.

Madara looked over the two, exhausted.

"Heh, we're even now, Hashirama…" He said, before collapsing as well from chakra exhaustion. His eyes closed for the last time that day. He died as the only Uchiha to reach the eye level of the Rinnegan…


	8. Filler Chapter 1

Filler Chapter: Hinata of Awakening

_As you must be guessing, yes this is a filler chapter. Chapter 8 is in development and halfway done, but it will be running a little late as of now. This is to say sorry. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. This is what the NaruHina fans have been waiting for…_

Hinata shivered slightly as she walked down the street to the shopping district of her town. She had been saving up money from all those D-rank missions she and her team had been doing and it was finally going to pay off. Naruto-kun had asked her out to "hang for a while" this weekend! She shivered again. It wasn't really cold, in fact it was still summer, but whenever she thought of that moment it sent shivers down her spine. She stopped and pinched herself again to see if she wasn't just dreaming, but it really happened!

She walked into a clothing shop in the middle of the shopping district. She hadn't been here before. In truth, she hadn't been to any clothing shop at all besides the one that tailored the Hyuuga clan. She heard from the other girls at school that this particular store sold great merchandise; stuff that was really popular amongst the other girls. She wouldn't know about any of that stuff, it just wasn't really her style to worry about such girly things. As such she had no idea what she was looking for when she walked into the shop and saw all manners of clothes she had never seen before. She was at complete loss for words as she saw all of the different shirts and pants. She even started to blush when she came across certain ones.

'_I-Is that s-supposed to be a-a skirt or a-a wristband_'_' _she thought as she came across a skirt that was especially short. She held it to her black shorts and found that it barely even came halfway. She threw it back to where she found it and decided to move on. She considered the shorts she was wearing to be too short as is.

'_W-what is that even?_" she asked as she came across a shirt that showed ample chest. Her blush intensified when she imagined herself in it, and what Naruto would say if he saw her in it. Would he compliment her? Or would he feel ashamed of her? No… Naruto-kun said he'd never be ashamed of her. But still, this would reveal… reveal… She threw it back hastily. She then continued to hide it amongst the other clothes so no one would ever find it. She didn't need any bold girls stealing away Naruto-kun's attention.

As she walked deeper into the store she heard screaming. One sounded a lot like Ino, while the other sounded a lot liked nails on a chalkboard. As she came around the corner she smiled as she saw her two old classmates, Sakura and Ino. While she and Ino were always on pretty good terms, Sakura had personally apologized to her for picking on Naruto, and they became friends, though Sakura was always tense around her.

"Gah Ino-pig! It looks better on me!" Sakura shouted while pulling on the very same shirt Hinata had picked up earlier. Hinata gasped as she saw the threatening thing being pulled back and forth between the two girls.

"How? We both know that I am the bigger one here!" Ino said mockingly," Now let go! It's the last one!" she shouted this time, pulling it back towards her. They started to pull in it harder and harder to the point the fabric started to strain. Hinata saw this and rushed to get the other one. When she found it, she threw it into the fray and the fighting stopped immediately.

"Thanks Hinata-chan" Ino said, rubbing the new shirt to her cheek.

"Yeah… thanks Hinata-san" Sakura said, guilt still evident in her eyes.

"It was n-no problem, I was o-only trying to help…" Hinata responded while trying to back away slowly. She knew of Ino's reputation as a fashionista and a gossip and she didn't want to be a model for her or her new gossip topic. As she was backing up she was met by another female friend of hers.

She turned around to see TenTen, the weapon mistress of Konoha. Her hair was done in its usual double buns, and she was wearing her usual garb. She had the slyest smirk on her face as she walked forward, her hands on her hips.

"Fancy seeing you here, Hinata", she started, her smirk growing larger each passing word, "I thought the Hyuuga only got tailored by their own personal one?"

Hinata gasped and backed away from her as well, only to bump into the two girls behind her.

"Yeah, now that I think about it, it is kinda weird…", Ino replied. Hinata started to become frightened as she noticed the blonde kunoichi go into her "Gossip Mode". Her face started to turn red, and she started to look for another way out of the store… _any_ way out of the store!

She decided to cut through a small opening left in their defenses, only to be blocked by Sakura.

"Really? No wonder you wear the same thing all the time! You're long overdue for some new clothes!" Sakura joyously screamed, her look of guilt replaced by a look of mock insult, "And you never came to me for new clothes? I'm shocked, I _am_ the fashionista of the Rookie Nine…"

Ino scoffed, "You aren't the fashionista, Ms. Pink Hair Forehead, and I'm the only one with any sort of fashion sense. Although…" she trailed off looking apprehensive, "I thought the Hyuuga were really adamant about their dressing style. As far as I can remember your clan has been wearing the exact same clothes your entire lives. Sometimes I heard that the people who break the dress code are punished… Why are you even here Hinata?"

At this Hinata started to blush as her face became red. She started to stutter out some words, but they were nothing more than incomprehensible sounds as she choked on her own words. This caused the rest of the group to laugh. They knew that while Hinata was indeed shy, she only ever blushed that much for one reason…

"Is it about… Naruto?" Ino asked, her Gossip Mode now fully on and blazing. Stars replaced her eyes as she clasped her hands together and bobbed up and down on her heels. Hinata knew about Ino's nature and knew she had to put it down as soon as possible.

"N-n-no!" Hinata managed to answer, a little too quickly. This did not go unnoticed by the rest of the girls, who all elicited a collective squeal now that they had their answer.

"I never knew Hinata to be so bold as to try to catch Naruto's attention on her own… I don't think the idiot would notice a parade if it started right in front of him, but if its Hinata I'm sure he would notice!" Ino teased with a wink, causing Hinata's blush to deepen further. She pulled her head down into her jacket to hide her face, which was now likened to a tomato.

"I-I said t-that it wasn't!" she managed to squeak out, which alerted the other three. They began to feel a little embarrassed until Tenten's smirk came back to her face.

"Really, Hinata-chan? Well, a little _birdie_ told me that a certain _Naruto-kun_ invited our little Hyuuga heiress out on a date" she said, stressing certain words to make her point. It worked perfectly, and soon the other two girls broke out of their stupor and got right back into their old groove.

"I didn't think the baka had it in him!" Sakura practically screamed to the world. She now sported the biggest grin and Hinata could almost see the plans she started to make through her pronounced forehead. She didn't like what she was seeing.

"Isn't that just the cutest thing? Who would've thought? The loudest and the quietest in our class going out! I would say I'm surprised if I didn't think of it already." Ino boasted, her chest swelling with undeniable pride. Hinata could only stare in horror at the sight she was seeing. Now that Ino knew, it was only a matter of time before everyone knew.

"I'm surprised you just heard, the way I hear it, the two lovebirds have been hanging out a lot lately. They've been having a lot of… alone time…" replied Tenten, causing the rest of the girls to lose a collective "ooh". Hinata could tell the situation was getting out of hand. Nothing she could say would work on them now that they were like this. By now they were crowding around each other talking about things she was sure was related to them and had their backs turned. She took this time to make a mad dash for the exit. She almost made it… had a chain not wrapped around her and trapped her. She turned her neck to see the three girls looking at her, a fact made scarier because their eyes were now stars.

"We can't let…" Sakura started, in a voice so shaky and unstable it was almost creepy.

"you go…" Ino picked up, her voice similar to Sakura's.

"without getting you ready for your date… right?" finished Tenten in a voice that seemed creepier than the last two. Her head started to twitch, and Hinata started to regret ever coming into the store! In a deeper and almost demonic voice Tenten screamed, "GET OVER HERE" and Hinata was pulled back into the store by the deathly chain. The store doors closed by themselves, as if by magic, and the fate of Hinata Hyuuga was determined…

XxX

Naruto was jumping across the rooftops the fastest he could go. Behind him were several ninjas of jonin and chuunin rank. Most of them were pissed, while some of them were just plain livid. They were seeing red, and like a mad bull charged through any and all things that stood in their way. They started to gain on him, and Naruto had to undo his last weighting seal in order to keep the distance between him and them at a comfortable one. As he ran, he wondered what he did to deserve this chase this time. When he woke up that morning he certainly didn't provoke anything… so why was he being chased now?

Naruto turned down an alleyway and ran into a dead end. He turned around to run the other way only to find he was blocked by the ninjas, some of which looked familiar.

"How's your day guy? I trust getting the paint off wasn't too hard for you, now was it?" Naruto asked with a jeer. He backed up slowly, eventually reaching the wall. The jonin he was talking to cringed a bit before proceeding forward.

"Don't play stupid, demon brat!" he screamed with hatred dripping off of each word. His face portrayed every bit of emotion he was feeling, and was screwed up on a way that made it impossible to look at without feeling small. "We have been tortured by your presence and pranks long enough! Prepare for divine judgment!" he continued, starting to go through hand signs. Naruto had started to do his own, but pair of ninja handcuffs was thrown by one of the chuunins and bind his hands together midway, locking them in a certain position.

"No little jokes this time, brat. Not like we need any concern from a no talent brat like you."

"No talent huh? That's not what you were screaming when I had dyed your face blue… Tell me; am I the greatest stylist or what?" Naruto continued to joke. His joke apparently hit a nerve, as a vein started to appear on the jonin's forehead and he started to speed up his hand signs. Naruto started to fumble with his bindings, but to little or no avail. His hands could only move a few or so inches in any shape or form. Ninja handcuffs were designed to even bind your fingers from bending…

"Are you ready to fry, brat? I made this jutsu just for you… Have fun with my new special… Fire Style: Demon Killer Jutsu!" A stream of fire sprang from his mouth and formed in the shape of a fox head and hurdled toward the bonded boy. The gathered ninja laughed as the fire loomed closer and closer to Naruto, to which the said boy just yawned. What happened next seemed to go in slow motion for all those who were present; for the ninja because of the fear, for Naruto because of the hilarity.

Naruto stomped his foot on the ground when the fire fox was mere inches from his face. It stopped where it was as a white seal appeared on the ground in the alley. It clearly read the words "Seal of Confinement." The fox turned in its spot and started to fly around the seal, not being able to leave it. The ninjas had to duck and dodge the fox as it flew overhead, coming lower and lower. Some tried to leave, only to find themselves trapped in the seal as well. The boundaries of the seal shrank more and more until it was barely more than a tube, squishing all of the ninjas together. The fox flew up and when it came down engulfed all those present in a searing fire. Naruto waited for a few seconds before releasing the seal and letting the fire disperse. In its wake left charred bodies of several higher ranked ninja, now unconscious. Naruto walked by them and made his way to his destination from before he started being chased.

"Stupid ignorant ninja…" Naruto muttered as he walked through the city districts, to the shopping area.

XxX

Not three seconds passed since he entered the shopping district before he was chased back out. It almost seemed like they were waiting for him. Naruto, while still a genin, was still a ninja. Unless they were sitting there looking for him he couldn't see how they were able to spot him so quickly. They only really _looked_ for him on his birthday, but otherwise couldn't be bothered with him. It wasn't his birthday, so what was the reason now? He looked down at his bright orange jumpsuit, and then picked at it lightly.

"_Maybe… Nah_" he thought before pushing the thought away and walking on. He would just have to find somewhere else to shop before meeting up with Hinata.

XxX

Hinata walked down the street, absolutely horrified. It had taken _hours_ for the girls to finish picking something out for her. She had originally planned to spend only a couple minutes! She wanted a couple hours to go home and calm her nerves, but that option was gone now that she was late… _by half an hour_. Now she was going to half to deal with a no doubt pissed Naruto, and the shame of her new outfit, which she felt completely embarrassed in.

The girls managed to shove her into something that she assumed they thought looked good on her. Then they promptly shred her old ones to pieces so she couldn't change back into them. It didn't matter much to her… she had several other outfits like that one at home exactly like it, but that didn't change the fact that it was her favorite… Wait… now that she thought about it… that could be the reason they kept her so late! They didn't want her to be able to go home and change! Hinata cursed their devious planning as she rounded another corner on her way to go meet Naruto-kun. She looked up at the sky to see that the sun was slowly setting. It was almost sun set, and the sky was tinted orange. The clouds were beginning to disperse as a cool nightly breeze blew through the village. Hinata shivered lightly, summer was coming to an end. She saw that she was becoming later and later so she picked up the pace, almost going into a jog. She attracted a lot of attention from the boys around her as she rushed to her destination. Their ages ranged from older to younger than her, and some were even her own age… some were even her old classmates. She blushed at the obvious attention she was getting, was it the new clothes? She felt naked without her jacket…

She turned another corner and was now into an all-out run to her destination. She was only a couple blocks away by now, and she could almost see Naruto and his bright orange jumpsuit as she got closer and closer. She was now only a single block away, and she now only needed to round the corner. She was so excited her nerves felt like exploding… or only they would be if a hand wasn't put over her mouth. Before she could react she felt the familiar pulse of foreign chakra as a genjutsu took its hold and she promptly lost consciousness…

_Yes… this is a cliffhanger… yes… I am sorry. But hey, this way I have given you suspense, right? Heheheheh… Yeah… Next Filler Chapter: Romance and chivalry!_


	9. Filler Chapter 2: End of the Filler Arc

**_So... here you go! The end of the 3 part filler arc. "Kyuubi's Origins: Part 1, Filler Chapter 1, and Filler Chapter 2. THANK YOU SO MUCH, THE PEOPLE THAT REVIEWED! I will do the shout-outs again, next chapter._**

**_Now on to the real issue... I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to be so dark... Well, you'll see..._**

**_I do not own Naruto, but Red Yoshi is mine..._**

Hinata of Awakening: Part 2

The sound of water dripping could be heard echoing off in the distance. This signified that this was a large room. Hinata shook her head, which caused it to ache terribly. Whatever genjutsu was applied to her had messed up her head badly. She opened her eyes slowly, trying to find her bearings, to find she couldn't. The room was immensely dark… she could barely see her own body below her.

Hinata moved, or at least tried to, to find that she was tied up. There were ropes around her torso and legs, binding them respectively to the chair she could feel she was in. She tried to move her fingers to do a jutsu, but couldn't. The only answer she could find to this was that someone had put ninja handcuffs on her. She tried to scream, only to find that she was gagged as well. Within seconds Hinata went into panic mode. This situation only brought up bad memories… Memories she had been trying to forget…

She wrestled a bit more against her restraints as she tried to get free. She started shaking more and more violently. The chair started to shake back and forth, and one could hear her screaming against the gag in her mouth. Tears started to flow down her face as she slowly felt her sanity drain. She started to breathe faster and faster… It was all happening again…

"H-hinata? Is… is that you over there Hinata?" asked a voice from a various distance away. It was weak and shaky, but was familiar all the same. Hinata couldn't answer, so she settled for a weak grunt of approval.

"Thank goodness! You're okay Hinata! I was so worried when they said they were going after the Hyuuga heiress next… But you're okay… I'm so happy…" the voice said. Another voice decided to speak up at this point.

"Tenten… so it is Hinata… she's okay right?" asked the second voice, just as weak and shaky as the first.

The first voice, who she recognized as Tenten, responded, "Yes, Sakura… she's okay… how's Ino doing?"

The second voice, who was observed as Sakura answered, "Yes… she just… she just passed out a little while ago… if we make it out…" Hinata squeaked at this… "My bad… when we make it out, she should be okay…" Hinata seemed to calm down at Sakura's reassurance. Just as her nerves started to return to normal, lights sprang to life in the area they were in, and it was revealed it was a rather large abandoned warehouse.

Hinata winced; her eyes were not adjusted to the bright lights. She could now see exactly how her friends were. Tenten and Sakura were tied up in the same predicament as she was, but only they weren't gagged. Ino was passed out on a bench nearby, completely unrestrained. She could have been of help had she not been unconscious, or fully clothed. Hinata's mind raced as she wondered why this would be.

A voice rang out from behind Hinata. It was male, and deep.

"Ah, I see you're awake, my little powerful princess. How was your nap?"

Hinata's spine tingled as she listened to the almost sadistic tone the man had. She heard his footsteps as he walked closer and closer to her.

"Hmm, what's that? Can't speak? That's alright; you're not supposed to be able to… We wouldn't want that _demon _you've been hanging out with… You know, that Naru-kun? Yeah, him… we wouldn't want him to be able to find you anytime soon, now would we? We heard that he has some very good hearing…"

Hinata could feel her nerves begin to unravel again.

"We have been planning this for months… do you know why?" Hinata didn't answer.

The man giggled, "I said… DO YOU KNOW WHY?" he asked again, anger evident. Hinata shivered, but managed to shake her head no. These bindings were grating on her in all the wrong ways.

"Hey, you leave Hinata alone!" Sakura yelled, trying to stand up for her. She screamed to her loudest, before being slapped by the man.

"Shut up! Before we have to cut something out, you hear Pinky?"

Hinata could see the man now. He was tall, easily 6 feet. He was big, and burly, and had a mean face that would make a crying baby silence. He approached Hinata again, anger mostly abated.

"We had been planning this… because… of you… You clan ninjas are the reason. So big and bad… So proud of your little techniques and blood limits… The hokage always prefers you over us. You guys get the fame while we normal ninja are swept aside… Did you know I was supposed to be a jonin? But while I was taking the test, the person I was fighting against used one of his "clan jutsu". In all other aspects we were pretty much even, but damn… his little mind control jutsu… the damn Yamanaka clan… I was forced to give up before I even had a chance… I will enjoy the look on their faces when they see what I'll do to their little heir, but before that… There's a small little matter… The Hyuuga… There are Yamanaka who aren't talented enough to learn Mind Swap; there are Akimichi who just never gain the necessary weight… But you Hyuuga, you always get your doujutsu. The byakugan never fails to show up in any of you little brats. You're the biggest enemy of all of us hardworking ninja…" he said as he pulled out a knife, "but don't worry… we won't have to worry about that anymore. Now that we have you, we can get a pretty hefty fix to that problem." He lifted his knife to her face. The blade was held mere inches away from her eyes and inched slowly closer. Hinata could feel the memories rushing back. She whimpered… she cried hard… She could almost feel the cold steel approaching her, even though her eyes were closed. She was gripped with a fear she had thought long gone…

Then just like that, she wasn't. She opened her eyes, and saw the blade was so very close. She knew she should be scared, but it just wasn't there anymore. She wondered why. The big man snapped his fingers, and several other men stepped out from the shadows and moved over to her friends, much to their protest. Still the fear she held, or at least should have held, just wasn't there. She could see the man moving his lips, now in slow motion. She was sure he was gloating, but could hear none of his words. She wondered what was happening, and for a second could swear she was going crazy, when it happened. A flash of orange, yellow and red appeared in the corner of her inactivated eye, and for the first time since she woke up in that warehouse, she smiled.

XxX

The blade swung back.

The girl's eyes closed.

It flew forward.

And now there was a knife in the eye of one Hyuuga heiress…

XxX

Before she exploded into a log.

Confusion was evident in the faces of the multiple men in the room. They looked around wildly for the place where the Hyuuga heiress could have disappeared to. They didn't have to wait long, though. Seconds after Hinata disappeared, a yellow flash reappeared where she was. An enraged Naruto, now coated in a thick, bubbly coat of red chakra rushed forward and proceeded to punch the tall man in the gut, causing him to cough up blood. With a simple twist of his fist and an expulsion of chakra, Naruto managed to twist the insides of his enemy beyond repair. The man flew back, spiraling the entire way, until he broke through the wall at the back of the warehouse. The men looked on in horror and shock at their new foe.

Naruto's red cloak was now receding, and it was easier to see him. His face, while a look of complete calm, barely hiding the anger boiling just underneath. The KI being given off was astronomical, and some of the men passed out as he walked right passed them to the place he left Hinata. Naruto was wearing an orange long sleeved jacket with a single black stripe running across his chest and down the sleeves. Another stripe ran down the left side of the open jacket, and underneath was a black t-shirt. He wore orange pants with a black stripe down each leg of the pant, and black sneakers with orange stripes. He went behind some crates and picked up a girl in a white and lavender jacket. Under it she was wearing a white dress with a lavender tone. The bottom darkened and the tips of the skirt were deep lavender. She wore white pumps with lavender wavy lines along the sides. She looked stunning, she was unconscious, and she was Hinata.

Naruto walked back, and passed the ninjas again. They were now mostly over their shock. They prepared their weapons and were about to charge when a faint buzzing noise reverberated throughout the room. It caused them to hesitate, but their posture returned almost immediately.

"Take this, boy!" one yelled, as he threw a kunai. Naruto kept walking, not stopping for a second. The kunai flew straight and true towards its target, before it was stopped from impaling the back of Naruto's head. Naruto stopped, but never turned around.

"I would thank you, teme, but-"

"Shut the hell up, baka. I'm not here for you." Sasuke said, before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. He reappeared next to the ninja near Sakura, knocking them out immediately. He proceeded to bend down and start to undo her bindings.

"Sa-Sasuke…" she started.

"Shut the hell up idiots! If I have to tell you again I'll leave you here!" he screamed. His eyes were red.

His sharingan hadn't activated yet…

More ninjas ran forward to combat the new foe. Kicks and punches were thrown at the duck haired boy, but they were all blocked by a wall of buzzing… insects?

"I would find it illogical to proceed. My friends are already mad about the way you treated their friend…" the normally quiet Shino said, standing over the surprised figure of Tenten.

"I heard about you… you're Shino… an Aburame…" she said.

"…" Shino raised his hands, and the caught ninjas were encased in a cloud of Kikkai bugs. After a few seconds they fell out, drained of chakra.

The last of the remaining ninja were scared. Their leader might have been chuunin material, but they were lucky to make genin. They started to run away, before turning around and starting several explosive tags tied to kunai. They were about to throw it at the ninja and the unconscious girl, before they found out that they couldn't. They couldn't move at all anymore, really. Out from the shadows stepped a pineapple headed boy. His eyes were droopy and his voice was tired, but a small hint of anger could be seen on his face.

"This is so damn troublesome… I almost didn't come. Naruto made a solid point though. I don't like the way you treated my friends." Shikamaru said, stepping forward and in front of the body of Ino, almost protectively. This caused the ninjas to move to accommodate the length of the shadow, moving away from the group.

"I hope you like the choices you made in life. This is surely your last" he finished, as the explosive tags ticked down to their end. They exploded, and the ninjas were engulfed in flames. He turned around and picked up the Yamanaka. By now Sasuke had put Sakura on his back and was halfway out the door. Shino put Tenten on his as well, and strapped her in with his bugs. She looked a little creeped but was tired out from the ordeal, so she just leaned into him, finally collapsing. He passed by Naruto second, who was still standing still, never having moved.

"Thanks, Naruto…" he said as he passed.

Shikamaru was the last to pass Naruto, holding Ino, who was now covered by his shirt. He was about to leave as well, when his senses kicked in and he tilted his head, dodging a kunai. He turned around, to see the same man who acted as the leader.

"W-where do you think you're going… clan trash…" he started, drawing another kunai. He charged forward, kunai in hand, ready to impale the kids before him.

'Crap' thought Shikamaru as he wracked his brain trying to figure out what to do. He was still holding Ino, and Naruto seemed not to be able to respond. The man was now on top of them, ready to swing the kunai, when seals started to appear all over his body. The man froze, collapsing to the ground, a near lifeless husk.

"The… hell…" the man started, clearly surprised.

"You know" Naruto started, in a nice small tone, "if you stopped being so damn jealous of what other people have, and enjoy what you do have, then maybe the old man would notice you more."

"You… have no idea… of our pain…" he continued.

"No, you have no idea of ours. You had a small army of men here that acknowledged you, we only had each other. Over time we worked harder for each other, and eventually we got other people to see us too. I hope you learn too." He finished, as he walked out, not having once turned around. Shikamaru followed close behind, feeling a sense of obligation as he walked behind Naruto, and whatever aura he was giving.

"Stupid… clan… idiots! I will get my revenge!" the man screamed. He quickly closed his mouth when he felt several blades against the back of his neck. Two trench knives, two kunai and a spike were all concentrated on one spot.

"Y'know, I wouldn't", said Asuma, his cigarette turning, almost being burnt out from the amount of stress. Asuma was not happy.

"It's never a good idea to mess with a jonin's students… y'know." Kurenai continued, KI rolling off of her.

"We now have the right to kill you… y'know", Kakashi finished lazily, his eye twitching uncontrollably.

"Y-you wouldn't dare…" the man started, only to be cut off.

"You're right, we wouldn't… It would be most unyouthful for us to. That honor, we leave to them." Gai said, pointing to the now full door. Hiashi Hyuuga, Inoichi Yamanaka and Tenten's dad all walked in, closing the door silently behind them. Screams would be heard if there weren't silencing seals placed there beforehand. Thanks to the influence of Sakura's mom and dad, there was no question about what happened to some of their ninja.

XxX

Hinata opened her eyes to find she was on top of the Hokage Monument again. Her body ached a bit, and the pain brought back the memories of what had happened earlier today. She shivered, almost wanting to go back to sleep, when he felt herself being grabbed from behind. When she looked down, she found a pair of orange arms wrapped around her.

"I missed you today…" Naruto said, causing Hinata to gasp. She held his hands, and pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around her more.

"I missed you too, Naru-kun.."

**_So how was it? Did I live up to your expectations? Next chapter we begin the story anew, Hiashi's plan, and so many other mysteries will start to be revealed... maybe :)_**


	10. Chapter 10: All to do with Mist Arc

_**A/N: I'm sorry guys! I'm back, though some of you might not be... Here you go, the next chapter! And my condolences to whoever is still following. Again, sorry!**_

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: Beginning of Mist Arc<p>

Naruto ran ahead of the rest of his team, his new capture in tow. It was purring gently in his arms, and tried to snuggle closer and closer into him. It knew where it was going, and it knew what was going to happen to it once it reached there. It didn't like it very much, but it assumed that it was inevitable, so it was going to have to enjoy being free while it could.

Naruto's tow was none other than the notoriously hard to catch cat, Tora. It belonged to the wife of the Fire Daimyo. What was unique about Tora was that she ran away from her home every single week, and was the bane of all genin teams everywhere. After a while the cat had gained so much skill at running away that it became a real challenge for genins to catch her without some serious teamwork… and microphones. For Naruto and Team Seven, however, catching Tora was about as simple as finding where the cat was hiding at the time. After that, Naruto would simply walk up to her and pet her gently, and she would practically jump into the young jinchuuriki's arms. Tora had taken a liking to Naruto after their third attempt to capture it. Naruto had started to go on a rant about how annoying this was becoming and how the Fire Daimyo's wife should be treating her pets better… and Tora couldn't agree more. After that they became quick friends, and the two would talk on their way back to the Hokage Tower to return the poor cat to its prison…er… home.

As they strode into the tower, Naruto could feel Tora clench up in his arms. By now Naruto could tell that Tora could feel a disturbance in the air, as the fur on its back stood up on end. Tora hissed lightly and its eyes took on a feral nature… _She was coming_…

As if on cue, a loud shriek rang through the hallway before the breaking of walls could be heard and the wife of the Fire Daimyo could be seen in a dead sprint coming down the hallway. A cloud of dust could be seen being kicked up behind her as she made a beeline for Naruto, or more importantly, her lost cat Tora.

Instinctively Tora jumped out of Naruto's arms and using her hind claws pushed him out of the way. The next scene happened in slow motion. As Naruto fell to the ground he could see Tora turn her head in midair and look at him. As the arms of her owner wrapped around him, Naruto smiled a sad smile back at Tora, who closed her eyes and with a smile accepted her fate. Tora was almost crushed to death by the Fire Daimyo's wife's embrace. She paid the Hokage handsomely for the quick capture as she left with a less than content Tora in her arms.

XxX

Naruto and the rest of his Team walked triumphantly into the office of the Third Hokage. Naruto was smiling broadly while the rest of his team shared his feelings. Even Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at the atmosphere. This was their third mission that day and noon had just recently passed.

Sakura was similarly pleased. After he saved her a while ago, Sasuke stopped being such a stick in the mud. He was still arrogant, and a prick, but at least he was starting to come out of his shell.

"Ne, old man! We caught Tora again! We're awesome aren't we?" Naruto asked with a look of mirth on his face. The old man smiled, there was nothing he liked more than seeing the smile on the face of the kid he valued as a grandson.

"Yes yes Naruto. I believe your team has beaten the record for catching Tora… Ms. Fire Daimyo made sure to pay you all a little extra for your troubles." Hiruzen chuckled, an air of amusement in his voice. He went to pull out the payment cards for them when Naruto started speaking again.

"Ne, old man! When are we going to stop doing all the grunt work and go on a real mission?" Naruto asked, his finger in his ear. Iruka moved to scold the young boy but Hiruzen put his hand up, quieting the teacher.

"And what makes you think you are ready for a higher ranked mission, Naruto? From what I hear your teamwork isn't up to par with what it should be. That _is_ the whole point of D-rank missions. They are here so that you and your team could learn to work together without being put in any real danger. While I understand that each of you has some degree of strength, I cannot allow you to leave the village with your team in such disarray", Hiruzen replied, pulling out the mission payments and handing them each to Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi. He threw Naruto's at him, who caught it. Naruto looked at the envelope with his pay in it before crushing it and throwing it behind him.

"But we're never gonna get any stronger this way! If D-ranked missions were all we needed to come together as a team then we would be done by now! This was like our millionth D mission and absolutely nothing has changed since the first!" Naruto yelled back. Hiruzen rose from his seat, his anger starting to grow.

"Well with that attitude Naruto, I'm not surprised that your team hasn't grown together." He answered calmly, not wanting to play to Naruto's game, "You are not deemed ready to leave the village with a temper like that. You could get your entire team killed! Even if it is just a C-ranked mission!"

Naruto was mad, and was about to retort when he heard a voice from the side of the room.

"Maybe if he can't go with his usual team, maybe he could go with us?"

Naruto and company averted their gaze to the boy who was leaning in a corner in the side of the room. He wore a black sweater with a hood and black pants and sneakers. He had spikey red hair and a smile on his face, next to him stood Hinata.

Naruto was the first to recognize him, "Hey! You're that Yoshi kid from the Academy!" He yelled, pointing to the boy. Yoshi just laughed, and ran his hand through his hair.

"You sure are a loud one, aren't you? The old man and I were actually in a meeting about a C-rank mission before you busted in here. At first I was annoyed, but now I'm kinda glad, you see…"

"And why do you have Hinata with you?" Naruto cut him off, his voice getting louder

"Actually, I don't really have much of an answer for that." The boy responded.

Hiruzen took this time to speak up, "Naruto, this boy's name is Yoshi Red. He arrived here shortly before you did asking for exactly the same thing… in exactly the same way" Hiruzen added with a grumble, "I was thinking of giving him a try at one before I-"

"Wait… how come he gets a C-rank and I don't?" Naruto continued, little caring for the rest of the story.

"Let me finish Naruto… Anyway, I was thinking of giving him a try at one before I remembered that Hiashi made a request of me. He wanted Hinata to go on a C-ranked mission, but her teammates did not feel ready to go as of yet. He asked to put her on the first team ready, but as of yet no genin teams have stepped up to the plate. That is… until your team… and Yoshi's team…"

At this the people present started to look around. Besides Team 7, the Hokage and Iruka, there was no one else in the room to speak of.

"Um, excuse me Hokage-sama, where are Red's teammates anyway? I can understand why Team 8 isn't here, but shouldn't Yoshi's teammates be here as well if they're requesting a mission?" Sakura asked.

"That's the thing actually, Yoshi's team is a solo cell. That is, he has been working by himself the entire time. We couldn't even give him a sensei, so he's been doing all of his missions by himself" the Hokage chuckled, "he has done almost as much as you guys have."

The people in the room were astonished, as they looked back and forth between the boy and the Hokage. The boy just chuckled in a way similar to Hiruzen, and started to talk to break the ambiance.

"It's no big deal, D-ranks are nothing much. That's exactly why I want to get out, do something that gives me a little more of a challenge. Too bad gramps here…" Yoshi then pointed over his shoulder at the Hokage, "thinks that going it alone would be too much of a hassle for me. Since Hino-"

"Her name is Hinata" Naruto growled.

"Right… since Hinata wants to come along, and your team obviously isn't ready, how about we just take you along with us? You can even bring your sensei with you if you want to. I think we need one of those too…"

Naruto fidgeted in his spot. On one hand he really wanted to take this chance to go along with them… This could be his chance to finally get out of the village, and away from the emo duckling… He would even get to spend more time with Hina-chan and bring along Kakashi as well. Extra training would mean he would be even more prepared for his fight with Sasuke… whenever that came around…

But on the other hand… There was something about this kid that Naruto just didn't like. The way he moved… the way he talked… there was just something about him that reminded him of someone… He didn't know who, but whoever it was, was really familiar…

Naruto was debating whether or not to accept the offer, when Hiruzen cut him off.

"Hold up. What makes you think that just because you _might_ be getting a mission that you can call shots? If Naruto can't cooperate with people he's been working with for a while now, what makes you think that working with people he barely knows would make things better?"

"Hmph", Yoshi grunted, turning his attention to the aged Hokage, "well it couldn't do any harm either, now could it?" he then turned to look at Hinata, "besides… I think Naruto gets along pretty well with his girlfriend"

Everyone in the room gasped, excluding Hinata. No, Hinata did the only thing she knew how to do at a time like that. She blushed a deep shade of red, hyperventilated, and then promptly fainted. Before she could reach the ground, however, she was caught by Naruto and laid to rest on the sofa nearby.

"What'd you do that for?" Naruto screamed, "Now she won't wake up for at least an hour!" Naruto paused, "Oh! And she's not my girlfriend!"

"Curious how you know so much about her fainting spells then, if she's not your girlfriend." Yoshi teased, but turned back towards the Hokage, "I think Naruto would be a perfect last addition to our team. We need a free range specialist anyway. Hinata is a great scout, and a great close combat fighter, being a Hyuuga, and I specialize in long range. We need someone who can cover us in that middle area, and best of all, we can bring their sensei!" he yelled enthusiastically in the end, almost jumping on the balls of his feet. His red hair shook with his movements, and it strangely reminded Naruto of something… something almost dear to him…

Hiruzen just watched in light humor at the boy in front of him. He reminded him so much of Naruto that it got confusing seeing the two in the same room. He felt almost sad to have to deny the mission when something clicked in his head. A wicked smile came to the Hokage's face… His plan was just as wicked…

"Hmm, well I suppose that this would be a good idea…" Hiruzen muttered. This didn't stop everyone in the room from hearing it though. Their reactions were a mixture of joy and shock.

"Say what?" Naruto yelled, not yet ready to make his decision. He was jumping up and down in his spot in the room. The rest of team seven looked equally as shocked, but decided not to say anything.

"It would be unwise to send you along with a group that you have no compatibility with, but you and Hinata work really well together, if Hiashi's words mean anything" Naruto gulped, knowing exactly what Hiruzen meant. Over time their teamwork became almost astounding.

"And I'm sure with someone as talented as Yoshi here" Hiruzen continued, "your teamwork will become so much better." Hiruzen motioned Kakashi over. In a flash, the silver haired jonin was at his side. Naruto could see Hiruzen whisper something, but wasn't quite sure what it was. Whatever it was, however, made Naruto nervous, as the wicked smile that was previously on the Hokage's face found its way on to Kakashi's.

"Yes, sir. I will do everything in my power to make sure they get along… swimmingly…" Kakashi chanted, almost too happily. Naruto flinched, Kakashi should never smile… Naruto backed up slowly until he reached near Yoshi was.

"Ne… I don't like the way Kakashi-sensei and the old man are smiling…"

"Me neither, it's too damn creepy, think they're up to something?"

"I dunno… but it wouldn't be too far a stretch to say that they are… Stay on your toes"

"Aye, Naruto-san"

"So, Naruto, do you accept the mission?" the Hokage asked, a slight glimmer in his eye. Naruto was seriously creeped out. He would refuse, but he wasn't sure if that was even an option anymore.

"Um… sure… I guess…"

"Perfect! You will be leaving tomorrow at around 5. You will meet your client, Tazuna, at the gates. Have fun!" the Hokage ended with flair. He seemed so happy that Naruto almost lost his breakfast.

"Um, Hokage-sama… what about us?" Sakura asked.

"Oh? You and Uchiha are free to do whatever you want until the mission is over." The Hokage said, before taking a puff from his pipe, "I suggest that you work on your teamwork while Naruto is gone, no?"

"Hmph" was the only reply from Sasuke about his new predicament before he turned to leave. On his way out he stopped near Naruto.

"Good luck… dobe…"

"You too, teme…" Naruto answered, and with that, Sasuke left the room. Sakura eagerly followed behind him.

"See ya Naruto!" she yelled back before running ahead to Sasuke, "Wait up Sasuke-kun!"

XxX

Naruto sat on the head of the fourth Hokage. The sun was just starting to set, and the entire village had a tint of orange. No matter what happened to him, whenever he came up to the Hokage Monument and looked over the village as it was, he would instantly forgive it. Today, however, he came up to the monument for some rest and privacy from the village.

Naruto rubbed his head frantically. In front of him sat a scroll and some ink. He was trying all day, right after the mission briefing, to improve on the explosion tags. He thought he was making progress, but he only ended up with a few scribbles here and there from the original design.

"Ne, why is this so damn hard!" he screamed, before taking out a scroll and unrolling it. He channeled some chakra into the scroll, and several books on sealing popped out. Naruto started flipping to various pages in the different books, and by the time he found what he was looking for, the head of the Hokage was a mess.

"Now I see why there haven't been any improvements to this thing… No one can understand it!" he screamed again. He started drawing more lines on the scroll, but in the end only had a little more progress than he had before. Naruto was getting mad. The whole thing seemed impossible. The art of sealing involved so much intricate designs and slight tunings that the whole thing seemed like something you needed to master to do the simplest of things. Naruto knew he was very gifted, but things like finesse were something he knew he lacked experience and talent in. He was about to put his fingers together to do the kage bunshin, when he heard someone coming from behind him. With speed befitting a Namikaze, he hid the stuff he had in a scroll that went straight in his jacket.

The bushes rustled and from the thicket popped the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata. She wore brown cargo pants and lavender and white sneakers. Her hair was done back into a short ponytail that hung on the side of her head, and she had slight bangs that covered her eyes. She still wore her large coat, but it was slightly zipped down at the top. She walked slowly over to Naruto, who was now looking at her in wonder. She fidgeted her hands behind her back, before finally speaking.

"H-hi there… N-naruto-kun…" she stuttered, looking off to the side. Naruto was puzzled; he thought she got over that weird stutter.

"What's the matter Hina-chan?" he asked. Hinata shivered… His pet name for her always sent shivers down her spine, but more so now than ever. She would have to tell him now… She already came so far! She couldn't spy on him anymore either… his talents as a ninja was growing at a rate equal to her own; he would sense her long before she started to stalk him.

"Well… N-naruto-kun…. I-I-I wanted t-to tell you th-that I…" she started. Her hands were becoming clammy. She couldn't do it… She had managed to grow so close to him. They had become the best of friends ever since that day when they bumped into each other. She had grown to admire him, look up to him… even… to like him… She decided that this was the day she would tell him… but… now she wasn't so sure… Would he accept her feelings? What if she didn't? Her life would be over… her best friend would be gone forever and it would never be the same again!

Hinata started to tear up as her lips started to quiver. She wanted to tell him but… why would he choose her? He would be better off with someone like Ino… she was much prettier than him…

The tears in her eyes stopped her from noticing as Naruto stood up from his place on the ground, or head as it was.

Hinata clenched her fists so tight she almost drew blood. She was so caught up in her thoughts that the world around her seemed to melt away.

'_Or what about Sakura? She had the top grades in the class… surely a better match for Naruto_' she thought, her doubts and fears making it seem like the most undeniable truth.

By this point in her thoughts, she let the tears flow. She couldn't hold back anymore, as she started to whimper softly. Hinata pulled up the collar of her jacket to wipe her face, before turning around.

"S-sorry Naruto-kun… I have to go" she whispered, barely audible. She was about to run away, when her wrist was grabbed, preventing her escape. She tried to squirm free, but the grip was too strong.

"Let go Naruto-kun!" she yelled, before doing a jump and letting loose a round-house kick. The attack impacted Naruto head on, sending him flying into a tree before he poofed out of existence.

'_Shadow Clone_' she thought. Hinata looked around. There was no one else to see on the mountain at the current time.

"Byakugan!" she yelled. Veins emerged from around her eyes as her doujutsu activated. Now she could see several chakra signatures in the woods just around her, all of them similar. He was probably using Shadow Clones.

'_If that's how it is, Naruto-kun, then come at me!_'

On cue, several Naruto's popped out of the forest clearing in a beeline for Hinata. The ones closer to Hinata jumped in the air and brandished kunai, while the ones just behind them kept running in a straight line.

"With the jutsu you helped me to perfect… Clan Jutsu: Kaiten!" at once, Hinata began spinning while exuding chakra. This created a dome of blue chakra that formed around her. One by one the Naruto clones slammed into the barrier, before poofing away.

"Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" came a yell in the woods not too far off. Hinata gulped… that could only mean…

Birds chirped as thousands of Naruto's flooded the air and ground, in an almost race to Hinata, who was still using Kaiten. The air soon filled with smoke as Naruto after Naruto was extinguished by Hinata's technique. Inside the dome, Hinata spun randomly, no longer able to see outside her own technique; through the sound of the shadow clones being dispersed, Hinata could faintly make out Naruto's voice.

'_Hina-chan… what's wrong…_'

Hinata shook her head… fatigue was finally getting to her. She ignored it as she took out a dozen more Naruto's.

'_Hina-chan… tell me…'_

"No… I can't…" she whispered to herself as she doubled her resolve. The shadow clones started to thin out. The constant barrage that was a couple seconds before was now about ten at a time. The whispers she heard only seemed to increase as they were extinguished though.

'_Hina-chan, you can trust me_'

'_Hina-chan, we're friends…_'

'_Hina-chan, tell me…_'

'_Hina-chan!_'

"No… no! I can't tell you! Leave me alone!" she yelled back at the voices, her Kaiten spinning faster than was before. The last of the Naruto's now extinguished, Hinata kept spinning, and her eyes closed and cut off from the world… Wherever he was… he was still out there, and right now she wanted him to stay out. Deep down she knew, however, that this was a fight she wasn't going to win.

True to her suspicions, a large ring started to glow on the ground around her, the word "Inescapable" sprawled across its features. Hinata opened her eyes, and saw all at once, via her Byukugan, that she was trapped. Out of the forest, Naruto jumped from a tree and high into the air, a tag in his hand.

"I WILL NEVER LEAVE MY PRECIOUS FRIENDS ALONE!" he screamed, before tossing the now glowing tag straight at her. Hinata tried to block it with her Kaiten, but it somehow phased right through and to the now eroded ground right below her. She quickly read what was on the tag, before smiling, recognizing her loss.

The tag said "_Seal Art: Gentle Fist Explosion"_

The blast right after knocked Hinata out as all of her chakra points was sealed off at the same time.

XxX

Naruto looked at Hinata sleeping peacefully against a tree, his new orange jacket draped over her like a cover. She usually looked so pretty sleeping, but every so often her features would become distressed, which hurt him a little inside. He wished he could help her… He wished he knew what was wrong.

"DAMMIT!" Naruto yelled, before smacking himself in the head, trying to think. He hated being unable to help his friends, especially when they were sitting right in front of him… What was he missing?

The woods around him rustled again, and sitting in the branch of the tree Hinata was under, sat the kid from earlier, Yoshi.

"Ne, what do you want…" Naruto asked, annoyed.

"Nothing… nothing…" the boy answered swinging his legs while humming. He looked off into the sunlight over the village and smiled, before jumping down. He landed right in front of Hinata, missing her by inches.

"Hey you baka! Watch it!" Naruto screamed, tensing his muscles in preparation for a fight. The other boy responded by shrugging his shoulders and walking past Naruto, before sitting on the head of the Third.

"I came to check up on my new team, but if you and your girlfriend is having alone time then…" before the boy was able to finish, Naruto tossed a tag at the boy, which landed right before him.

The tag read '_Seal Art: Instant Seal: Inescapable'_ and immediately the circle from before appeared around Yoshi, trapping him. Not wasting a second, Naruto made several shadow clones which flew at the boy with far more speed than before. The boy didn't flinch, as he dodged some with slight movements. The ones he couldn't dodge he blocked, before kicking them out of existence.

"I'm no close range fighter, but no clone would be able to beat me, either." He said, before going through hand signs.

"Lightning Release: Ten Songbird Jutsu!" he yelled, before ten musical notes appeared around him, just outside the circle. Three flew to the remaining clones he had dodged. When they got in range of them, they exploded, sending out electricity that took out the clones. The other seven flew to the original Naruto, who just finished removing the weight seals on his body, whose weight increased. With a blur of orange and black, Naruto disappeared and the notes just floated there.

'_He's fast… too fast for even my jutsu_' Yoshi thought, before going into a fighting stance. He bended his knees and placed his hands in front of himself, palms out.

"Gah" Yoshi gasped, as cuts appeared all over his body, almost at once. Blood seeped out onto his hands and clothes. His eye became blurry. Yoshi warily did hand signs for his next jutsu.

"Ring of… a Thousand… Deaths…" he chanted, out of breath. The air in the area right around Yoshi stilled, and the boy seemed to stop moving.

XxX

Naruto was breezing through the trees, not having stopped once after removing the seals. If he stopped for even a second, the jutsu with the notes would find him and he would have to dodge the annoying things as well. He managed to cut the boy a few times with his kunai, but Naruto knew that almost no one fell for the same attack twice, even if thrown from high speeds.

Naruto was now bouncing closer and closer to the boy trapped in his seal. Naruto was confused… why did it appear that he had stopped moving? He didn't trust whatever jutsu the boy had used, so he threw a kunai, at his face. It sailed straight and true, before stopping right as it entered his seal. It fell to the ground, rattling a bit before settling.

'_What the hell was that?_' Naruto asked himself, '_that jutsu of his stopped my kunai!_'

Naruto threw several more kunai from several directions. Half of them flew past, never entering the boundaries of his seal. The rest stopped as soon as it entered the boundaries of the seal.

'_Dammit! What does he want to do? Trap me in my own seal? What good would that do him? We would both be trapped!_' he thought, before looking at the notes still floating in the air. '_Crap, there's still that._'

Naruto sped up, before making seven shadow clones, which moved as fast as he did. They all entered the circle at equal intervals on its edges. When the notes came after them, the electric explosion engulfed the area. When Naruto finally stopped moving to look into the debris, Yoshi stood there unaffected.

"You didn't think I would be hurt by my own jutsu, did you?" he asked; his tone calm and collected. The wounds on him seemed to have closed up, now only the rips in his clothes remained.

"A little, I really wanted you to stop using that insane jutsu." Naruto answered, in the same tone of voice.

"I'm still in the seal" Yoshi continued, shuffling his feet a little, showing he couldn't really move them.

"I'm still free and really fast", Naruto followed suit. Jumping a little to show off, "so why are you still so…"

"… calm?" He finished for Naruto. Flexing his fingers, he stretched his arms, showing off his physique, which matched Naruto's, "it's because the name of the first jutsu I did is a little off"

"First jutsu… what are you talking about…" he asked, before realization hit his face. He spun around to another note flying at him. He was blasted back into a tree, his body tingling before he passed out.

XxX

Naruto woke up in a sewer like room with a large gate in front of him.

"Fox-baka wants to talk…"

XxX

Naruto jumped up from the tree alarmed. He looked around to see Yoshi laying down on the fourth's head.

"How did you get out the seal?" Naruto asked while walking over and sitting down next to the red headed boy.

Yoshi groaned, and rubbed his head before answering, "Seals only work on me for five minutes. The fight lasted one minute, while you were out for about six."

Naruto nodded his head, not really caring about the details, "but why is that?"

"I don't really know…"

"Ne… you did a good job back there. You're lucky I got careless."

Yoshi laughed, "and you're lucky I let you catch me in that seal!"

The two boys laughed a bit together as they talked. They both loved ramen and pulling pranks, and each of them loved jokes. They became quick friends, and laughed until the sun finally went down. When the last ray of light disappeared from the horizon is when Yoshi's expression returned to its seriousness.

"Hey, Naruto-baka…" he started.

"Ne… what Yoshi-baka…"

"Why is Hino asleep?" he asked.

"Long story"

"Maybe you're thinking too hard about it" Yoshi spat

"Maybe… maybe…" Naruto followed suit.

"Just calm down about it; it's probably not as serious as you think it is."

"I'll keep that in mind" Naruto answered. He could feel the wind blowing past his hair, signaling the departure of his new friend. Naruto then stood up and walked over to the now conscious Hyuuga.

"Hey"

"H-hey…" Hinata stammered, looking at her feet in front of her.

"How are you feeling Hina-" Naruto started before he was cut off.

"I'm doing fine! It's just that… I… don't know what to say… I want to tell you Naruto-kun, but I can't… not yet… but you deserve to know and…" Hinata stopped talking as she was hugged by Naruto. His embrace brought her close to his chest, and Hinata couldn't help but return the hug.

"Whatever it is that you want to tell me Hina-chan… You can tell me when you want to. I trust you, and I can wait a little longer for you to tell me." He ended, whispering into her ear. This sent shivers down her spine again, and would have made her faint had she not just woke up. It didn't stop her face from turning red though.

They hugged like that for a while before Naruto let go and stood up. Neither wanted to leave the comfort of the embrace, but they both knew what happened when you were late for Hiashi's standards. Naruto held out his hand to help Hinata up, which she took happily. As she stood up, Naruto's jacket fell to the ground.

"Oh…" Hinata said surprised, just noticing it was on her. She quickly picked it up with her free hand and handed it back to Naruto. Naruto looked at it, before draping it over her shoulders.

"B-but, then you'll be…" she started, looking into his eyes.

Naruto laughed, "I'll be okay"

* * *

><p><em><strong>Haha, so how was it? My first deviation from the story canon... review, please!<strong>_


	11. Chapter 11: Departure

Chapter 11: Departure from Konohagakure

Naruto ran down the road to the village gate as fast as he could. The sun was still rising and the sky had a soft blue tint to it. For the first time in his life, Naruto woke up early, and was prepared almost immediately, the excitement of his first real mission keeping him from getting any sort of actual sleep. Around this time, no one was really awake, so the village streets were mostly bare. He got to the gate in almost no time at all, but was disappointed to see he wasn't the first one the there.

"Oi, Naruto-kun, I didn't take you for a morning person!" Yoshi yelled as he approached with a small backpack over his shoulder. He was covered in sweat and panting a little, but still managed to smile as he reached for a handshake.

Naruto shook his hand, "Gomen, I'm not, am I disturbing something?"

Yoshi laughed, "Not at all, actually, you're just on time, I was getting in a little training before the mission and I could use a sparring partner, up for it, Naruto-kun?" he asked, setting his backpack against the wall inside the gate. He removed his shirt before running into the forest, not waiting for an answer. Naruto sighed, before following suit and removing his jacket, disappearing shortly after him.

XxX

Hinata and Kakashi walked briskly down the road to the gate, sidestepping the early risers. The sun rested comfortably in the sky, having crawled just high enough to awaken late sleepers, but not high enough to announce mid-day. They walked in comfortable silence, neither having anything much to say to each other after their initial greetings. When they arrived at the gate, they looked around to see that they were the only ones there. Kakashi sighed, "Seems like they aren't here…" 

"I didn't think Naruto-kun would be late for this… he was so excited…" Hinata answered, slightly disappointed. She was about to turn around to go look for him when she noticed something orange sitting off next to the gate, "Kakashi-sensei! Over there… isn't that Naruto-kun's jacket?"

Kakashi looked and confirmed the jacket and backpacks, he picked them up off the ground and walked in the direction of the forest.

"Shouldn't we wait for the others?" Hinata asked, worried.

"I'm sure we will find them if we looked hard enough" then Kakashi smiled, "didn't Kurenai teach you tracking abilities?"

XxX

Explosions and falling trees could be heard as the two boys "sparred". In all truth, it really did start off as a friendly sparring match between the two, but it quickly escalated as the two started arguing over the best tasting flavor of ramen.

"Beef!" Naruto shouted as he sent several shadow clones bearing kunai towards the red haired ninja.

"Shrimp!" Yoshi responded, as several electrically charged notes were sent to the blond one.

The two attacks clashed and made craters in the ground, throwing dirt and smoke everywhere. When it cleared, the two young ninja stared each other down on the ends of their new battlefield, newly created. Debris of trees and gravel lay strewn everywhere.

"Why are you so arrogant?" Naruto yelled, starting his new jutsu. His hands flashed through hand seals with an unmatchable speed. Yoshi blinked as he saw the hands blur, but he held his ground.

"I could ask the same to you!" he shouted back, starting his own hand seals. He was definitely slower, but he was sure his jutsu was shorter.

True enough, the two attacks finished at the same time, and an explosion was heard ringing through the forest again.

When Hinata and Kakashi arrived on the scene, to say they were surprised would be an understatement. Laying on the ground in several yards of fallen trees were the two ninjas, exhausted and unconscious.

"I wonder who won?" Kakashi asked as he picked up Yoshi mid-stride, hurling him over his shoulder. A summoned nin-dog appeared in a poof of smoke right after him and picked up Naruto, and they continued on their way to the village. Hinata laughed, "Kakashi-sensei… what about our escort?"

Kakashi stopped his walk suddenly, before turning around and walking in the direction of the village.

XxX

"Ne… I won that one…" Naruto shouted to no one in particular as they walked through the forest on their way to the village of waves.

"If I recall correctly, you fell first." Yoshi responded, his eyes half closed. He let out a yawn.

"Whatever", Naruto replied, his hands now behind his head. He walked in front of the client, an elderly man by the name of Tazuna. He was a bridge builder from the Land of Waves and it was Team Kakashi's job to escort him back home. To the client's left walked Yoshi, eyes now fully closed, and to his right walked Hinata. Behind Tazuna walked Kakashi, and they formed a protective formation around him as they walked.

As they came closer to the border of the Land of Fire and closer to Wave, a deep fog rolled around and restricted vision. The trees became noticeably thicker and the ground became littered with puddles. Naruto stepped in a few on purpose, trying to splash water on those behind him.

"What are you doing, idiot?" asked Yoshi, eyes still closed.

"Having a little fun on this dull mission." Naruto responded, not caring to turn around. Hinata chuckled a bit at Naruto's antics while Kakashi remained silent. This process continued until they were a way into the fog. Naruto stepped in another puddle and immediately Yoshi's eyes snapped open. He made a short nod to Naruto who responded with his own, before turning back to the front. Kakashi, bringing up the rear, made no movements, but acknowledged their movements with a wink.

Kakashi continued on, stepping in the same puddle Naruto had stepped in seconds before. A hand shot out of the puddle and grabbed Kakashi's leg. Kakashi tried to pull his leg free, but to no avail. After a few seconds, chains shot out of the thick forest around them and wrapped around the one eyed jonin. The chains were pulled, and Kakashi was no more, ripped to shreds by the spiked chains.

"Kakashi-sensei, no!" Naruto yelled, running to the place where his teacher once stood. The ground was now stained in blood. Naruto grunted as a pained expression crept across his face.

"You will pay for this!" he yelled, turning back around to see two similar ninjas jump out of the forest and onto the road.

"Who are you?" Yoshi asked the two figures as they stood straight up. They wore gray, impassive clothing and had masks covering the lower half of their face, similar to Kakashi's. On their alternating arms they wore some kind of metal gauntlets, one on the right and on the other the left. The chains from before could be seen retracting into the gauntlets, now slightly stained with blood…

'_That blood… Its Kakashi-sensei's!_'

"We are the…" The two ninja started in unison, before they were cut off.

"Aaaaargh!" Naruto screamed as he dashed at them, pulling out a kunai. He could feel a familiar rage build up inside him as he ran, and with that rage he felt a power pushing him forward…

Pushing him to kill…

Within an instant he was in front of the two enemy ninjas with his kunai pointed at their throats. He made a cut for their necks, but the more experienced ninja were able to dodge just in time. The kunai instead slit their chest lightly as they jumped back.

'_Whoa, that's not his normal speed_' thought Yoshi. He pulled out his own kunai, "Hinata, you guard the client, I'll help Naruto." Yoshi said before reappearing next to the orange ninja. Hinata just nodded before brandishing her own kunai and standing before Tazuna.

"Hey kid, how did you become so fast?" Yoshi asked Naruto, but he seemed to be in a daze, "Hey idiot, are you okay?"

"You may be fast… but…" one of the enemy ninja started.  
>"We're faster!" the other finished. They both jumped off in different directions and into the woods.<p>

XxX

Naruto opened his eyes to a large dark room. He couldn't see very far, but he knew where he was. After he realized, the room slowly got brighter until a large cage could be seen directly in front of him, a tag sealing the gates shut.

"Baka fox, what do you want? I didn't get really angry; I didn't fill the requirements for your power." Naruto said to the darkness behind the bars. There was no response, so Naruto continued, "If you're not gonna answer me then I'll just be on my way, I have ninjas to fight." He said as he turned to walk away. Before he got more than two steps, large red eyes poked through the darkness and an earth shaking roar rang through the cell.

"**I LIKED KUSHINA BETTER, BRAT**" the booming voice said, "**SHE HAD MORE RESPECT**"

"You know, you keep rambling on about Mom. Do you have some sort of crush on her or something?"

Kyuubi's booming laugh resonated from behind the bars, "**NO KIT, ITS NOTHING LIKE THAT. YOU'LL LEARN ABOUT KUSHINA AND I IN DUE TIME. BUT, NO, BELIEVE IT OR NOT I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT **_**MY**_** MATE RIGHT NOW.**"

Naruto caught the hint, "So now you're trying to get me a girlfriend? I don't think you've noticed it, but girls can't stand me. You should really make your mind up, kill me, not kill me… I think our relationship can really progress if you just pick one."

By now the fox snapped, "**SHUT UP YOU IDIOT! JUST LOOK FOR YOURSELF THEN**…" it yelled, then showed an image of what was going on outside Naruto's head.

XxX

"Baka! Wake up!" Yoshi yelled as he jumped out of the way of another spiked chain. It had been only thirty seconds to him since the fight started, but to ninjas that could mean an eternity. Since then Yoshi had been dodging and deflecting almost nonstop chains aiming for Naruto with his kunai, but he was quickly getting tired. Speed was something he was not too shabby with, but it wasn't his specialty. Fighting two speedy chuunin ninja was taking its toll, and after a minute he was getting scratched all over.

"Die brat!" one yelled, and another spiked chain came shooting out the forest. Yoshi tried to block it with another kunai, but he was a second too late. He manage to parry the chain, but it knocked his blade out his hand; immediately after another chain sprang from the forest in another direction, aiming straight for Naruto.

'_Damn_' Yoshi though as he jumped in front of the blade. He reached out and grabbed it, and managed to stop it just before it pierced right through him.

"My turn, _Thunder Jutsu: Stream of Thunder_" he screamed, before his hands glowed with chakra. Seconds later electricity shot down the chain and screams of agony were heard. It was silent for a few seconds, before the masked ninja with the gauntlet on his left hand fell out of a bush, completely fried.

'_One down_' Yoshi thought, looking around for the next one. No matter where he looked, however, he couldn't find him. He decided to take this time to let go of the chain, only to find immense pain when he tried to do so.

"Yoshi-san!" Hinata gasped when she heard Yoshi scream. She was about to run over to help him when Yoshi refuted the idea.

"Stop Hinata! The other one is still around here. If you leave then the old man won't have any protection!" he screamed. He tried again to let the chain go, but the spikes were deep in his palms. With all of his willpower he managed to wrestle his left hand off, but as soon as he did, the blood started to flow. He bit back the pain that was gushing in his hand and started doing a one-handed jutsu.

"_Thunder Style: Electro-sensory Jutsu_" he said. Small electric pulses started to emit from his body, and Yoshi closed his eyes so he could use the jutsu to its fullest. This jutsu sent images to his mind and immediately Yoshi could get a picture of his surroundings in about a half mile radius. For a while he couldn't see anything, but eventually he could see a blur from a half mile away. It was hard to keep track of at first, but eventually he got a lock on it. The blur got closer and closer, until it was obvious it was making a beeline on their position.

Yoshi's eyes shot open, "Hino! He's coming back! Get ready!" No sooner said, had the Mist ninja emerged from the forest. With unbelievable speed, he rushed past Yoshi and straight for Tazuna.

"Kaiten!" Hinata screamed as she started her technique. She managed to push back the ninja, having him fall on the ground in a daze, but he recovered quickly, starting to get back up almost immediately. Before he managed to, however, a small music note floated in front of him and exploded, thunder floating amongst the smoke.

"Bastard… how do you like my Thunder Style: Single Songbird Jutsu? I can only make one at a time with one hand, but that's enough!" Yoshi said triumphantly. He looked over to Hinata, who had stopped spinning. She looked happy, but the happiness only lasted for a second before a look of horror came over her face. Yoshi wondered what it was before he was hit on the back of the head.

XxX

Hinata watched in horror as the first Mist ninja rose from the ground and made his way over to her partner. Fear overcame her voice, preventing her from telling Yoshi what was happening. Before she knew it, the Mist ninja had knocked Yoshi out, and was removing the spiked chain from his hand and letting it retract into its gauntlet. Hinata could feel herself shaking… she was now alone against a ninja of chuunin rank. Her basic instinct took over, and she turned to run, but something stopped her. She looked at the terrified face of Tazuna, and turned back towards her opponent.

'_No Hinata! You can't run, not now! You've trained hard so you could protect innocent people like this. No matter what you cannot run!_' she thought to herself, pulling out a kunai.

The mist ninja laughed, "So you think you can take me on by yourself? Fine then…" he muttered before dashing forward. He swung his arm to attempt to backhand her, but Hinata ducked under his strike and, Byakugan blazing, connected two Gentle Fist strikes to the ninja's upper arm, the part not covered by the gauntlet. The mist ninja jumped back in fear, and found he was unable to move his arm anymore.

"So you really are a Hyuuga, you little brat… and not from the branch family it seems… This ought to be fun…" he snickered before charging at Hinata again. With his free hand he aimed a fist at her head, which Hinata dodged by leaning to the left, but as soon as she had done so, the mist ninja kicked her with his right foot, sending her flying. Before she had time to recover, the mist ninja was already there. He kicked her a few times in the stomach, before stomping her in the head once, making sure she was unconscious.

"Finally out, huh? Hey brother, you can come out now" the mist ninja shouted. His brother emerged from the wreckage caused by the Songbird Jutsu shortly after, making his way over to where his brother stood over Hinata. When he reached there, he picked Hinata up by her hair.

"So, how much do you think the little brat will fetch for?" he asked.

"Hmm, 5,000,000 ryo for her eyes, we could probably fetch a little more if we sell her whole body to some sick bastard."

"Man… its nice when a job gets you some extra income on the side" the mist ninja holding Hinata sneered. He looked over to Naruto, who was still standing in a daze, "So what do we do about him?"

"Nothing" his brother answered, "He wasn't a part of our mission so we don't need to kill him. He was no real trouble anyway. After we kill the bridge builder we can take the Hyuuga and be on our way."

Tazuna stood there horrified, petrified from fear. He watched as the Mist ninja not holding Hinata made his way over to the unconscious body of Yoshi, and used his working arm to aim the gauntlet at the heart of the boy.

"Let me kill him then, bro, this brat fried me and you both, it would be good to get some stess relief."

"Fine, but do it quickly"

XxX

_Inside Naruto's Head_

"Baka fox! Let me out!" Naruto screamed at the giant red entity sitting before him. No matter how loud he screamed, the fox just sat there, looking disinterested.

"C'mon! Please! Hinata and Yoshi… they're in danger! C'mon you stupid furball! Let me out!" he yelled, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. The fox seemed to start to retreat into his cage when Naruto got desperate.

"Fine, you stupid fox! I'll… I'll use your power… just let me go…"

Kyuubi grinned a mad grin, letting his power flow through the bars and engulf the figure of Naruto. The red chakra swirled around Naruto and engulfed him. Naruto could feel a power he never felt before. His body felt… lighter? And there was a power in his muscles which he felt he could lift mountains with. Something, however, felt wrong. The chakra swirled closer and closer until Naruto felt almost constrained by it. After a couple seconds, Naruto couldn't move at all.

"What's going on?" he yelled, but the Kyuubi only chuckled.

"All I needed you to do was accept" he chuckled.

XxX

_Outside Naruto's head_

"Dine in hell, brat" the Mist ninja said as he prepared to finish off Yoshi before moving on to Tazuna. Right before he released the trigger, however, he felt a huge amount of killing intent (KI) behind him. He turned around, and he saw that the last remaining kid was letting off gigantic amounts of chakra. The chakra… it felt evil, even to him. The mist ninja rubbed his eyes a bit before looking again. Was the chakra, red?

The second Mist ninja dropped Hinata as his body became drenched in sweat. For the first time in a long time, he felt fear. He backed up slowly away from the kid, "Hey… what's going on with him?"

"How the hell should I know?" he answered, backing up as well. The chakra seemed to have an odd effect on the boy. His nails grew longer, and the whisker marks on his face seemed to become deeper. His previously normal blond hair became bristled and wild. He started to snarl, and it could be seen that his canines grew longer. The two mist ninja became freaked out, and backed up even more. After a short while, Naruto's eyes open to reveal slit red pupils instead of the normal blue ones. With this transformation, the boy Naruto used to be was replaced with a more feral version.

"W-what the hell?" one of the brothers remarked while flexing his newly rejuvenated arm, his brother doing the same. "Well, whatever, weird red chakra or not, you still can't outrun the both of us!" he yelled before both disappeared into the trees once again. Sounds of movement could be heard all around as the two ninjas bounded back and forth, circling Naruto. A couple of shurikens came shooting out from all directions, and all bounced harmlessly off the red coat of chakra. The two ninja looked surprised, before trying something else. A chain shot out of the forest shooting straight for Naruto. Before it hit, Naruto leaned back, having it miss him by mere inches. Before it could be recoiled, however, it was grabbed by his clawed hand and held there tightly. A wicked grin appeared on Naruto's face slowly. He grabbed on the chain with both hands and pulled, dragging the Mist ninja out of hiding. When the ninja flew within punching range, Naruto gave him a right straight to the face, sending him rocketing back into the forest. The force of the blow caused the chain to break into pieces as Naruto was still holding one end, and the other was attached to the ninja spiraling through trees.

The remaining brother could feel the pressure and killing intent grow from the feral boy. Deciding to cut his losses, he turned tail to run when he was knocked out by a strike to the neck from behind.

XxX

The feral Naruto turned around to see his other prey being carried unconscious out of the forest by another person. Looking up, he saw that it was none other than Kakashi.

"Naruto… what happened?" Kakashi asked, concern in his voice. He placed the ninja down in front of him and tried to get closer to his student, but stopped when said student started growling. "Naruto" started chuckling maniacally at this, and decided now was time to talk.

"_**I don't think Naruto is the appropriate name for me right now, Hatake**_" said "Naruto" his voice sounding demonic and slurred. Kakashi flinched, at the bloodlust seeming to leak out of every word, "_**I see you got to my prey before me. I don't appreciate that very much, so you're going to have to make up for it**_" he continued, getting down on all fours. The cloak of red chakra started to mutate, before it resembled a mutated fox with a single, bubbly chakra tail. Before Kakashi could answer, the demonic being reappeared in front of Kakashi, kicking him to the side of his head. Kakashi barely had time to guard, and was such blasted into a tree.

'_So fast_' Kakashi thought, recovering from the hit, '_No, he was fast already, the demon's chakra just made him faster_'. Swiftly, Kakashi removed his forehead protector to reveal his secret weapon, the Sharingan. As he was about to retaliate, the demonic Naruto raised his hand, signaling him to stop.

"_**You're already getting serious, huh? As he is now, I don't think the pup could handle this battle with only one tail. I'll retreat, but this won't be the last you see of me**_" The fox said, a tone of seriousness in his voice for the first time that day. The cloak started to retreat, and with it Naruto's appearance returned to normal as well. When it completely disappeared, Naruto's eyes returned to their normal blue hue, before rolling to the back of his head as he collapsed. Kakashi caught him before he did. He looked around at his other students, and sighed, "I guess this is where we camp tonight?"

"Damn right!" Tazuna growled.

"Oh… I kinda forgot you were there…"

XxX

**Inside Naruto's head**

Naruto gasped as the red chakra receded back into the cage and he regained control of his body. He fell to his knees as the chakra dropped him to the ground, "Dammit fox! That didn't happen last time!"

"**Last time we never made a contract**" he sneered

"What do you mean? I never agreed to a contract!"

"**It's not my fault you're stupid**"

"First off, yes it is! It's in every way, shape and form your fault! And second, what do you mean?"

"**I thought it was common knowledge that when you borrowed something from a demon, you gave something in return. In return for my power, I accepted control of your body. I would have kept it had that Hatake ninja not interrupted me. Get stronger, pup, so the next time you summon me I can use more than one tail.**"

"What? The hell, fox! I don't agree to these terms!"

"**Doesn't matter, the penalty to breaking a contract with a demon is death, something neither of us want.**"

Naruto grumbled, but the fox just continued, "**Now I'm not gonna be able to just give you power anymore, I'm about to teach you a very important word, don't forget it, it allows you to use my power.**"

Naruto covered his ears, "Why would I ever want to learn the way to do that!"

"**Because if it weren't for me you would be dead right now, so listen up. The word you need to remember is, "Kurama"**"

Naruto couldn't help but overhear the word of the booming voice of the fox demon. At first he was mortified, but then he keeled over from laughter, "Wh-what kinda word is that? It sounds so stupid!"

The fox stood there, a vein throbbing on his head.

"Like… its so silly! I feel bad if that's a name… the person must be so ashamed! He must have no friends!"

Again, the nine tailed fox stood in silence.

"I was a little scared before, but there's no way I would be caught dead saying that word!"

By now the fox reached his limit as he roared his next words, "**SHUT UP IDIOT, ITS MY NAME!**"

Naruto sat there on the ground terrified, sweat appeared on his brow, but not out of terror. After a while he started laughing again, "HAAHAHA! I was scared I couldn't hold it in… That's hilarious!"

Kurama groaned, "**Names are power for sages, magicians and demons, use it to summon my power at any time. Until then, refer to me as the Nine Tailed Fox or Master, either one is appropriate runt, now get out!**" he yelled, kicking Naruto out of his own mind.

XxX

Naruto's eyes opened as he regained consciousness. He looked around to see that it was nighttime, and he was sitting propped up against a tree in front of a roaring fire. He could see that this was where they had decided to make camp for the night, and didn't think more on the fact. He began to move, brushing the cover that was draped over him off, when Kakashi appeared in front of him.

"AAH!" Naruto yelled, "Warn people next time you do that!"

Kakashi eye smiled, then sat down next to Naruto, "Rough day today, huh?"

Naruto groaned, "You don't know the half of it" he said while getting up to stretch.

Kakashi pushed him back down with one hand, "You're right, I don't, care to elaborate?" he asked, the mood becoming serious. Naruto knew there was no escaping it, so he told Kakashi what happened. Kakashi's emotions went from normal, to shocked, to terrified and back again.

"Naruto… I knew there was a reason you had no injuries…"

"**You can thank me later, pup**" Kurama's voice rang from the back of his head, but Naruto ignored it.

"Listen Naruto, whatever you do, you can never say whatever word the Nine-Tailed fox told you. We don't know his power, as he easily took out two chuunin rank ninjas at his weakest. The demon is the cause of many deaths in Konoha in the past, and letting him loose would be a huge problem to all of us, okay?"

Naruto nodded, "I understand, Kakashi-sensei. But you should actually hear it! Its so funny it's a little hilarious! The word is actually hilarious, its Kurama!" Naruto laughed, before becoming deathly still. His pupils became slitted and red and his canines grew longer. Kakashi jumped away, drawing his kunai, but the fox just lifted a hand.

"**Chill Hatake. I only have about as much power as Naruto has right now. I wasn't expecting the idiot to just blurb it out so I couldn't gather any energy. I'm sure you have a lot of questions but I can answer them later. I finally have some freedom after all these years and I don't plan on losing it.**"

Kakashi nodded, but never let down his guard.

"**If it makes you feel any better, I'll retreat back into Naruto's mind. Besides, I don't think you want to fight either, not with the pup's mate waking up or anything**" Kurama stated, pointing to the tent Hinata was sleeping in. Noticing it was moving, Kakashi put away his kunai, not wanting to alert Hinata. During this time, Kurama reappeared next to Kakashi, and started whispering, "**But next time you pull a weapon on me, I **_**will**_** kill you, Hatake.**" Kakashi whipped back around as Hinata was leaving the tent. Seeing Naruto awake, she glomped him without thinking, unable to see the red eyes. Kurama chuckled, and just winked at Kakashi, before closing his eyes. When they reopened, they were once again blue, and rather surprised.

"Hinata? You're awake? Are you alright?"

"Y-yes Naruto-kun, I'm made of tougher stuff than that!" she joked, never letting go. Naruto started hugging back, her embrace seeming more healing than the fox's. Kakashi sighed before turning to leave, "We're leaving at sunrise, we're talking more later, Naruto, understand?"


	12. Chapter 12: Our Hidden Talents

_**Hi there guys! Redyoshi14 here to say hello! I know its been too long, I'll try to finish faster next time. I probably will too, cause next time is when things get really interesting! I kinda don't like the Wave Arc too much, but, whatever. I hope I've done a good job. Please review so I can know! Even anonymous reviews help the writing process so I can deliver these chapters clearer! (And faster depending on the amount of reviews...)**_

_**Remember! Reviews are our nourishment!**_

_**Also, I don't own Naruto... If I did then Tobi wouldn't be... HIM... Do I even need to explain how much of no sense that is? For some reason Tobi seems immune to Plothole No Jutsu...**_

_**Anyway, on with the story!**_

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><p>Chapter 12: Our Hidden Talent<p>

Naruto's eyes sprang open as he awoke from his sleep. Immediately he could feel his head sting from the pains of his headache, caused by the Kyuubi's nonstop ranting about saying its name without caution. No matter how many times he mumbled sorry, Kurama simply would not let up. Resorting to a last ditch attempt, Naruto threatened to blast K-pop all night long as soon as they got back to Konoha. This got the demon fox to shut up immediately, but only after several hours of screaming.

Naruto winced slightly from the pain. The Kyuubi really knew how to scream when it wanted to, and seeing as this all took place within his mind, well, it didn't really make his headache any _better_.

Naruto instinctively raised his right hand to rub his temple when he found that he couldn't really move it at all. Looking down at it, Naruto saw a sight that made him blush a little. He was sitting propped up against a tree, head leaning against the hard wood, which he was sure attributed to his headache. Leaning against _him_ however, with his arm in a death hold was none other than the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata. The events of the night before were coming back to him.

_Flashback No Jutsu_

XxX

_Naruto sighed as he rubbed Hinata's back, ensuring her that he was okay. She hadn't listened though, and instead preferred to continue going off on her own tangent._

"_N-Naruto-kun… I was so worried… when you just spaced out like that, I thought they put some Genjutsu on you and broke your mind. When I woke up… and you were out of it, no matter how much everyone tried to wake you, I thought… I t-thought…" she trailed off, Naruto noticed she was on the verge of tears again. He started to rub her head, trying anything to placate the worried girl, when he felt the bandage on her head. Remembering what had happened to her while he was trapped in his mind, he winced. He started feeling a little guilty that he was being doted over when she and Yoshi received the most injuries. _

_And that was when he remembered his other teammate. Naruto looked down at his first teammate, who was rubbing her face in his chest, wetting his jumpsuit slightly with her tears. He was about to ask about Yoshi when Hinata, almost sensing his worry, pulled him to the side and pushed him down against a tree._

"_There's no need to worry about us Naruto-kun, we're strong too!" she finished confidently. Naruto prepared to stand back up in protest when Hinata simply pushed him back down. She sat down next to him with a huff and before he knew it she had latched onto his arm. Naruto sensed his opinion on the matter slowly becoming inconsequential, so he tried to voice it before he lost all power._

_Unfortunately Hinata's mind was thinking the exact same thing, and she, yet again, cut him off by putting a finger to his mouth, silencing him like a baby._

"_Shh, Naruto-kun. You're going to get some rest and that's that!" she pouted, clutching his arm tighter, "and I'm not letting you go until you're fast asleep." She ended, now bringing her eyes up to stare into his. When Naruto saw the slightly red, lavender eyes, he knew all hope was lost. He looked to Kakashi for help, but found none as the one eyed Jounin was already walking away, his back turned and nose in his orange book. Naruto sighed, before sitting back and complying. He yawned, he was still a little tired from using the fox's chakra anyway."_

_End Flashback_

XxX

And that's how the situation came to pass. Hinata had actually fallen asleep before him and her head nodded off to rest on shoulder. True to her word, however, she had not let go until he was sound asleep. Naruto smirked at her antics, before a Kage Bunshin appeared next to him. Taking a deep breath Naruto started making small chants under his breath.

'_Please work, please work, please work, PLEEEEAAAASE_' he whispered to himself. He focused on the Clone, before switching places with it. Turning around slowly, he looked back at Hinata and let out a breath when he noticed that she was none the wiser.

"Phew" he said, before turning to walk away. His stomach growled, and he remembered he hadn't eaten since early the day before. He remembered he had packed emergency ramen and other rations and was going to go get them when a delightful smell wafted under his nose. Looking around, Naruto noticed there was a campfire set up with breakfast already cooked. Eggs and bacon sat already cooked on a nice plate.

Naruto immediately picked up the plate and prepared to eat it. Before he could pick up a piece of bacon though, his hand was grabbed.

"Maa, Naruto… Ninja Training 101: Never eat food you haven't prepared yourself, hunted yourself and, if possible, raised yourself", Kakashi commented with an eye smile, appearing next to Naruto with speed that made it seem as if he came out of thin air, "Luckily for you, this food is safe, so please, help yourself" he continued, placing a chair down behind Naruto then pushing him to sit in it. He conjured another chair and placed it opposite Naruto before taking his seat there. Naruto looked at his food suspiciously, then looked at Kakashi the same way. Finding no reason not to, he bit into a piece of bacon with glee. Immediately after, although he couldn't see it, he FELT Kakashi's smile thicken into one of wickedness.

'_**You messed up, kit**_" Kyuubi muttered from the back of his mind.

"Great, now that we're relaxing and you obviously owe me one, tell me, what's happening between you and the fox, hmm?" Kakashi blurted out in what seemed to the fastest he could while keeping the words comprehensible. Naruto cursed, he knew the Jounin was up to something.

"Umm… what do you want to know about it?" Naruto asked in between bites of food.

"Nothing much, just everything that's happening between you two"

"Ne, besides everything I told you before, you probably know more about it than I do."

"Nothing else happened? Does it try to converse with you? Did it tell you anything about itself?

Naruto shook his head, "It doesn't really tell me anything. The only thing I really know about the furball is that it somehow knows and despises k-pop."

Kakashi nodded his head, eyes… er… eye closed in contemplation, "I see, I see…"

'_**I'd appreciate it if you guys would stop calling me IT… I have a gender, you know**_"

Naruto perked up, knocking them both out of their thoughts," Kyuubi said that she has a gender"

"Ah, so Kyuubi is a she?"

Kyuubi roared inside the mindscape, "_**I am not a girl, you idiot!**_"

Naruto jumped, startling the two, "Sorry Kakashi-sensei, she just yelled at me about not wanting to be a girl or something."

"Maybe she's transgendered? She did look like a male fox last I've seen her"

Naruto winced.

"Come now Naruto, it's not nice to judge others."

By now Kyuubi was releasing every bit of hatred he could, "_**I AM MALE YOU DUMB PIECES OF-**_"

"Kyuubi!" Naruto yelled, "This story is PG-13!"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "What did she say this time?"

"She was in denial. She truly believes that she is a male. She got pretty defensive about it too."

"I see, maybe you should just leave her alone. Situations like these are very sensitive"

"I dunno, Kakashi-sensei, she kind of blares into my ear a lot."

"I guess this is the price of power."

Naruto nodded, having finished his breakfast sometime during the conversation. Handing the plate to Kakashi, he proceeded to stretch. Kakashi nodded and with a snap of his fingers, made the plate and chairs disappear. Naruto was going to ask how, but decided that it was irrelevant. Kakashi started to stretch as well. A few minutes later, when they were done, Kakashi decided to end their conversation.

"Naruto, any conversation with the demon fox is dangerous. We know too little about her to be sure if it won't try to escape and destroy again. I think you can handle talking to it, but try to keep it to a minimum, understand?"

Naruto nodded his head slowly. Seeing this as satisfactory, Kakashi walked over to the tents to wake up Tazuna.

"**I am male, you primitive idiots**" Kyuubi said calmly, "**and so help me, kit, I will be the cause of your death**"

Naruto smirked, "You aren't helping your case, Kyuubi-_chan._"

The fox responded with a resounding roar that made Naruto's previously gone headache flare to new heights. Despite that, the Jinchuuriki host decided that it was worth it. Rubbing his head, he tried to alleviate his pain when he heard a familiar poof. The memories came rushing to him from the clone, and he turned around slowly to face an irate Hinata. Her Byakugan was activated and her hands were glowing with chakra.

"Good morning… Hinata-chan…" he stammered out, a bead of sweat rolling down his face.

"Morning, Naruto-san" she said, standing up, "I see you have a headache, let me fix that." Before Naruto could answer, Hinata rushed forward and closed all his tenketsu points in an instant, leaving open only enough so he could feel. He collapsed to the ground, now completely drenched in sweat.

"Naruto-san…" she started, "you know how I don't like you using your clones on me…"

Naruto shivered. Even if he could answer he would be paralyzed by fear.

XxX

Team Kakashi made their way to the Wave country shortly after waking at sunrise. The entire team was tired, their feet dragging after having been walking so soon after waking up. Luckily they weren't too far from the entrance to the village, and reached there in almost no time at all. When they got there, they came across a bridge gate and Yoshi almost ran across it before being grabbed by Naruto.

"Idiot! Can't you see there's nothing there!" he yelled at the red haired boy. Yoshi pushed his hand off before responding.

"Actually, I can't with all this damn fog... hey old man, why is there a bridge gate here and no bridge?"

Tazuna squinted at the name, having been sober for a while now, "Because I'm the Bridge Builder Tazuna; if I've been with you this entire time, then tell me, who do you expect to build the bridge?"

Yoshi scowled at the old man's sarcasm and just walked to the edge of the land and looked into the water. He started mumbling about sarcastic old men who were lucky they accepted his now A-rank mission, but he was mostly ignored.

"Ano, sir, but Yoshi is right…" Hinata started before being cut off.

"Damn right I am!" he shouted, but was again ignored.

Hinata continued, "How are we supposed to get across without the bridge? I doubt swimming is an option…"

Tazuna just looked at her, "You're a nice kid. How did you get stuck with the dumb blonde and the red haired idiot?"

Said blonde and red haired genin started walking over to the bridge builder. Like tigers ready to pounce, they stalked him, but just before they managed to Kakashi held them back.

Tazuna, who's back was turned, wasn't able to see them, but Hinata could still see Kakashi's losing battle to hold them back, so she answered quickly, "Ano, sir, they're not that st-stupid…" she said, staring at Naruto specifically, "But we really need a way across…" Tazuna had laughed at her comment, before giving her a playful slap on the back that almost made her lose balance.

"I like you kid. You're refreshing compared to these three. The Rower is coming to take us across." He said, pointing a finger into the fog surrounding what they assumed was the village. Sure enough, a rowboat fitting several people came into view. It was by now, however, when Kakashi lost his grip on the two boys as they bounded forward to their 'client'. Just before they could tear him to shreds, however, there was a flash of blue and they both fell to the ground, immobilized. Tazuna turned around just in time to see two genin paralyzed on the floor and another smiling so innocently it was sickening.

"What happened…" Tazuna tried to ask, but was cut off by Hinata.

"Ano, sir… they're just a little tired from yesterday, give them a little time to rest, is all they need" she ended with another smile, in a voice that was so sweet it was poison. Without warning she went over and picked up Naruto, showing more strength than usual, and carried him to the now arrived boat. Knowing not to ask, the rest of the men simply picked up the remaining Genin and got in as well, taking off for the far shore.

XxX

A man fell to the ground in the street. He wore tattered and old clothes that protected from virtually nothing, not that he had much to protect, as he was reduced to almost bone underneath. Everyone around him stopped to look, some gasping, some screaming. Before the blink of an eye, the man was stripped bare, his body left there. From that moment forward, he was ignored as if common occurrence. This was an average day in the cities of Wave now that Gato pulled the strings. He and his thugs owned 90 percent of the country's wealth, and still they try to have more. Most people ducked their heads in shame every morning at the sight their beautiful country was reduced to thanks to the Gato Trading Company, and their evil tyrant of a boss. Most had no love lost for their Daimyo either, as he let the bastards go about their ways.

No, the Gato Trading Company wasn't just using the country for extortion, the entire country was now a part of the drug and prostitution services it held underground, away from powerful eyes.

The adults in the village had all but lost hope, but they still tried to hold on for their little ones, telling grand stories of heroes they were sure would never come. It was their last form of happiness, really… seeing the shining faces of the children as they played the Hero of Wave…

XxX

The boat ride over was mostly uneventful, due mostly to the fact that Yoshi was still immobile due to the Gentle Fist knockout. Naruto had recovered by reopening them, of course, but without Yoshi to argue with he had no way of outletting most of his energy, being stuck on a boat and all. He managed to put up with it for a few minutes but after a while he just couldn't stay put.

"It's so boring, dattebayo!" he screamed, earning him a strike from everyone on board and sending him over and into the water. Without a second thought everyone turned back to the direction of the shore they were rowing to and continued on their way.

Kakashi sighed, "I have to go get him, don't I?" he asked. There was an unmistakable "duh" hanging in the air as Kakashi stood up and walked over the water to where they last saw Naruto. He reached in and pulled him back to the surface, then threw him back to the boat, where Tazuna caught him. Appearing back in the boat, Kakashi sat back down and continued reading his book, earning stares from those around him.

"What?" he asked, to which Hinata just pointed to a not breathing Naruto. Kakashi just grunted.

"I'm not doing it, he's _your_ boyfriend isn't he?" he asked, turning back to read more Icha Icha. Suddenly, a kunai impaled said erotic novel, but left the Jounin relatively uncaring.

At least… for the first three seconds…

"M-m-m-m-m-my…." He started, before his eye rolled to the back of his head. He slumped over where he sat, his body lifeless.

"Great, Hino, you killed him," Yoshi said, recovering slightly from his paralysis. Hinata paled at his comment, and started looking back and forth between her two, now dead, teammates. She started hyperventilating, and for the first time in a while, she fainted.

Tazuna looked distressed, "Yup, with you guys I feel _real_ safe. Two are dead and two are incapacitated and we haven't even had contact with the enemy yet."

"If it makes you feel better, you still have me… a little…" Yoshi said, trying to wave his arms, "And I'm pretty sure the Rower can hold his own in a fight." The Rower sighed, they would be dead in minutes.

"Fine" Yoshi said after a while, "I'll see what I can do… hmm… starting with Hino…" he said, rubbing his chin now that his arms were back to normal. His face turned green for what he was about to say.

"Oh look… Naruto is naked!" he managed to squeeze out, almost retching upon finishing. Sure enough though, the blue haired girl was broken out of her spell with a deep blush on her face.

"W-what? Uhm, ano… I didn't mean to barge in!" Hinata squeaked, her practiced speech in place. This earned her a stare from the two on board the boat that hadn't said it. The Rower was indifferent, but Tazuna looked at her with disapproving eyes.

"And here I thought you were pure" he said, shaking his head. Hinata looked down, blush still evident. After a minute, Tazuna just laughed, patting her on the back in process.

"Now, now for Kaka-sensei" Yoshi continued, "Ahem, Oi Anko-chan! Put back on your clothes!"

Immediately Kakashi sprang up, his face thick in sweat but his eyes darting around lecherously, somehow, "W-what? Ano… I didn't mean to barge in!" He said, his practiced speech in place. The rest of the boat looked at him in disapproval, the Rower just sighing.

"This entire team is full of perverts…"

Yoshi ignored him, "… Now for the blonde idiot…" he started before being cut off.

"No… let me try this one" Tazuna said, slightly disgusted but also excited, "Look, idiot, Hinata lost all her clothes!" The entire team laughed as Naruto's face flushed but he didn't awake. Hinata blushed as well but managed to stay awake.

"No, no, you stupid old man, Naruto needs something that entices him more than that." Yoshi said, now sitting up, regaining control up to his knees, "You couldn't have possibly known."

Tazuna frowned at being called old, "Well what could it be, you rude brat."

Kakashi, Hinata and Yoshi looked at each other before looking back at Naruto at once they screamed a single word, causing the blonde Jinchuuriki to shoot up, coughing out the water in his lungs and looking around frantically, "WHERE?" he shouted, causing him to be punched back into the water. This time Kakashi saved him immediately though.

"What was that for?!" he asked, getting knocked on the head again. A bump started to form.

"Naruto, there's a reason we're rowing into the country instead of using the motor. If they hired those two ninja to hunt us, they probably have more, and we don't need the attention, seeing as only one of us can fight on water right now." Kakashi said sagely, using a jutsu to repair his Icha Icha book.

Yoshi started stretching his feet in the cramped boat, 'accidently' kicking Tazuna in the back, "your shouting was giving away our position in this forsaken mist… freaking blondes…" he mumbled, though Naruto still heard him. He made a rude gesture at him, silently vowing to finish this later.

"Fine, I'll hold off on talking for a while, but only on one condition." He said, causing eyebrows to rise, "I want Kakashi sensei to teach me how to walk on water!"

Kakashi nodded, "Yeah, I suppose I could when we get back" he said, back to reading his book. Hinata just sighed, happy she was woken up first, and Yoshi was just glaring at Hinata finally regaining control of his body.

"I hate you, Hino" he mumbled.

"Likewise, Yoshi-san" she answered, "and its Hinata."

Tazuna, meanwhile, stared at Naruto, disbelief in his eyes. The Rower would have done the same if he didn't have to watch where he was going.

"Seriously kid? You came back from the dead, for ramen?" Tazuna asked, causing Naruto to jump up and look around frantically again, rocking the boat. He was knocked out of it within milliseconds. Everyone looked at Kakashi.

"I'm not getting him again. You're seem to be feeling better, Yoshi, you go get him" Kakashi drawled, flipping a page. The red haired boy sighed, preparing to go save his teammate.

XxX

The team had arrived on land, saying bye to the Rower as he rowed away. They had been walking for a short while, making small talk, Tazuna telling the story of the condition of the Country of Wave. Not long after he finished his story, however, a giant sword shot out at them, Hinata grabbing Tazuna as they all ducked. The sword impaled itself into a tree, and on its hilt stood a man in a black shirt and cow hide pants. Kakashi's eye widened when he saw the sword and its wielder. He called his students back as he stepped forward, revealing his Sharingan under his forehead protector. Yoshi looked on in awe.

"So that's the Sharingan…" Yoshi said, moving forward while starting handsigns.

"And he's… his name is Momochi Zabuza, a legendary Swordsman of the Hidden Mist. Hiashi pounded his name into me until I remembered; never thought I'd meet him though" Naruto picked up, releasing his seals one by one.

Hinata stayed quiet, but activated her Byakugan. She was scared stiff before when she fought the two brother ninja. She was still surprised after all, but now, she was ready. She would show her full strength.

Tazuna looked distressed for the second time that day, "Y-you can't possibly mean to fight him! We have to run, now! You guys fainted on the way here!"

None of the ninjas seemed to notice his words as they continued their techniques. Yoshi's finished first.

"Lightning Style: Lightning Armor Jutsu!" he whispered. Instantly his entire body seemed to tense, as his muscles bulged to bigger sizes. His hair stood on end as his body started flooding with Lightning chakra. Occasional rouge sparks would fly off his body every so often, indicating the sheer amount he was holding in. Naruto looked at him, the last of his seals finishing off shortly after. His body flexed, and he looked a lot lighter. Hinata did nothing, but her Byakugan was now fully active.

"I said stay ba-" Kakashi started, but before he could finish two blurs sped past him at equal speeds, one seeming to be emitting electricity.

Naruto and Yoshi charged the Mist ninja at the same time, both wanting to get a surprise hit in. The initially surprised Zabuza flinched at the speed coming from the two Genin, but held his ground, simply blocking the two hits with his forearms, a kick and an open palmed thrust from Yoshi and Naruto respectively. His eyes widened as he felt both arms tingle and he stood on one leg and used the other to sweep kick the two out of the air and away from him. He looked at his two arms, now hanging uselessly at his sides, one immobilized by the electricity and the other… was it bound by a seal?

The two ninja landed back behind Kakashi, recovering quickly from the attack. They readied themselves into different taijutsu stances as they prepared to charge again, but were stopped by an expectant Kakashi.

"No, I got it this time" he said, his hands flashing through hand seals faster than either of them could track. Zabuza, however, saw this as well, and sent as much chakra to his legs as possible to jump out of the way right before a giant fireball struck his tree, and blade, engulfing the former in a white hot flame.

'_Shit, I can't fight the Copy Ninja Kakashi as I am now_' Zabuza thought, running at a slower speed than normal. His leg made contact with the electricity on the red haired boy and was now limping slightly, '_Its time to cut my losses, my only target was the old man anyway._' He said, rushing over to the unaware bridge builder. He appeared behind Tazuna and prepared to snap his neck.

"_You're within my divination_" was the last words he heard before Hinata, who had stayed back, started closing his tenketsu points, paralyzing him slowly. He tried to raise his leg and kick her away as well, but he looked down to notice the seal had been inching along his body until it covered most of his left side, restraining movement. He cursed as Hinata finished her technique.

"_Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms!_" Hinata finished, striking away at the last of the Mist ninja's tenketsu points with a practiced speed. Zabuza simply fell down, somehow resisting being paralyzed. He fell back, however, once the seal had fully enveloped his body, leaving him immobile.

Kakashi stopped his jutsu on the last sign, he didn't expect that. Neither did Tazuna, apparently as he sat there looking on in shock.

"W-What was that?" he asked, stuttering slightly. When no one answered, he thought they were ignoring him, so he asked again. After a few minutes, when the young ninja had released their jutsu, or in Naruto's case, returned the seals, Hinata decided to answer for them.

"Gomen, sir, we aren't used to going all out. We'll try our best from here on."

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><p><strong><em><span>Well? Did you like it? Did you hate it? Do you have inconsistencies that I looked over? Please tell me in your review! I do in fact read them all. <span>_**


	13. Chapter 13: Time To Train!

**_Okay guys, new chapter up! I know I haven't been updating recently and I'm sorry. Have you ever had a teacher drive you so hard you felt like just shooting yourself? Mhmm... Anyway, Christmas is coming up and being the nice guy I am, I will try to write my next chapter before then._**

**_And for those few of you that are still waiting for Samus and Pit... yeah... Its not on hiatus, but with the way things are going... I'll try to update it too... I really really really like that story though..._**

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><p>Chapter 13: Time to Train<p>

Tazuna shoved open the door to his house, stumbling inside before plopping down on the tatami mat in the middle of the floor. A young woman peeked into the room from one adjacent to it before calling out, "Oh, hey dad, you're home already?"

Tazuna sighed, resting his head on the low table, "Yeah, Tsunami… I'm home already… We have some eccentric guests here today. Bring the sake, lots of it."

Naruto looked at the old man in shock, "We're kids! We can't drink!" but Yoshi quickly grabbed his shoulder.

"Now now now, Naruto! Don't be so hasty!" he said, excitement in his voice, "We're old enough to kill and fight for our country, I think we're old enough to drink!" by now the red haired boy was jumping up and down. Naruto looked to Kakashi for help, but as usual, received none.

"Maa, Yoshi's right. A shinobi's life span makes a mid-life crisis seem like a fairytale. As such ninja aren't restricted by the same social rights as the average citizen" Kakashi said, putting down his smut book for a second as he looked off into the distance, recalling a fond memory. It quickly turned to one of sadness and disdain, however, "I started drinking at around your age Naruto… although for entirely different reasons."

Naruto nodded. He regretting asking Kakashi anything. He turned and looked to Hinata for help, but she looked away as soon as he did, silently telling him she was not going to have an input on this. Sensing the futility of it all, Naruto just took his seat at the table, Yoshi excitedly taking a seat on his left and Hinata on his right.

"Hino, Kaka-sensei…. You two aren't so bad! Now bring on the alchohol!" he shouted, clearly getting more excited by the second. A situation only made worse by the arrival of Tsunami with two full bottles of sake.

Tsunami looked at the headbands as she walked into the room, "So you guys are the ninjas my dad ordered? Thank you for escorting him here. He wasn't too much trouble was he?" she asked, setting the bottles down on the table.

"Of course not Ms. Sake, he was a perfect alchohol!" Yoshi responded, mind clearly somewhere else. He reached for a bottle, only to have it snatched from him before he could and swiveled down in one swing. He reached for the other one, only to have it grabbed as well, "Hey, what gives?"

Mid-chug, Tazuna answered, "These were for me, you little brat. Kids shouldn't drink." Yoshi, now heartbroken, simply collapsed back on the mat. Naruto and Hinata laughed, with Naruto patting Yoshi on the head, "Its okay, you'll get some next time"

By now Kakashi had put away his book and taken a seat at the table right next to Naruto. Leaving Hinata and Kakashi at the ends of one side of the table and Yoshi and Naruto in the middle. Tazuna sat on the other side, swallowing sake whole, with Tsunami finally sitting down at the table beside her father, a bottle of chilled sake in her hand.

Handing it to her father she spoke, " Thanks again for bringing my father here. As you can guess, we are a poor village. Please make yourselves at home."

Kakashi nodded, "This village… last time I was here it was a bustling place. It was full of life everywhere I went. What happened in the time I was gone? How long were you under his oppression? One year? Two?"

By now Tazuna had stopped drinking. He slammed the empty bottle down on the table, startling the genin a bit.

"No…" he started, his voice low and uneven, "Five is a more appropriate number."

The reactions at the table were unanimous. No one said anything for a short while, until Kakashi spoke up.

"Five years under this rule… how did you guys survive?"

Tazuna didn't answer, instead he tapped the upside down bottle for any sake that may remain.

"I see…" Kakashi said, before standing up and walking to the door. "Come students, time is wasting and last time I checked, I had to teach you something." He said, before disappearing through the door. Hinata and Yoshi rose to follow him, but Naruto sat there dumbfounded. He looked back at Tazuna and Tsunami, but they were unable to meet his gaze. Feeling the mood, he rose and followed after his comrades, shutting the door behind him.

As soon as they were a good distance away, Tsunami broke into tears. Tazuna simply embraced her while she cried, no words were exchanged. Crying was not something foreign here.

XxX

Kakashi walked at a brisk pace through the misty clearing and into a forest clearing just outside Tazuna's house. The three genin had no trouble keeping up, but Naruto was the only one with more questions.

"I don't get it, why did we just leave like that?" he asked, looking back and forth between his sensei and the house behind them. He found it weird that they were in the middle of a conversation and then suddenly leave like that, without even an answer.

"It's nothing, Naruto" Kakashi said, increasing his pace. This was not a good enough answer, however.

"That's bullshit. The mood in there went downhill so quickly we might as well have dived off a cliff. Tell me what's going on!" he yelled, running in front of the group, thus stopping their walking.

"Listen, Naruto, its nothing important." Yoshi answered, before trying to move around the blonde, but he was blocked.

"That's bullshit. Someone doesn't just get up and leave in the middle of a probably important conversation! What's going on!" Naruto demanded more than asked. Yoshi was getting annoyed now, and simply pushed him out the way as they continued into a small forest outside Tazuna's house.

"Can't you read the atmosphere? They obviously didn't want to talk about it, so just drop it!" he screamed, heading off into the enclosure. Following closely after him was Kakashi and a hesitant Hinata who looked at Naruto and mouthed, "Its okay." They continued into the forest until they reached a small brook, to which the genin stood single file in front of their sensei.

"Awesome… today I'm going to teach you guys about-" Kakashi started, before he was cut off by Yoshi.

"Um, Kaka-sensei… Can you tell me why we let that chick steal Zabuza away?" he asked, getting annoyed glances from those around him. Instead of answering… yet again… Kakashi went through a couple of handseals before grabbing the three genin.

_Flashback No Jutsu!_

XxX

_Team Seven approached the fallen Zabuza, ready to either subdue or kill, whichever happened first. When they were only a few meters away from the immobolized swordsman, two needle like projectiles pierced through his neck, making his head go limp. His eyes now closed, a masked ninja appeared next to him in a swirl of leaves. The ninja promptly picked up Zabuza in one hand, and his massive sword in the other, showing off immense strength. _

"_I thank you for weakening him for me. I had been hunting him for a while now, and you have given me the perfect chance. I am a hunter nin of the Hidden Mist and he is among the most wanted ninja. I will take care of him from here on" the hunter nin said in a monotone voice, not giving away a single detail. Immediately three of the ninja stopped their advance, leaving Naruto confused._

'_Huh… why are we stopping?' Naruto thought._

"_**Just shut up and listen**__" the fox stated in his head, "__**If you had been listening, you would have heard that he was a hunter nin**__"_

'_A hunter nin?'_

_The fox sighed, "__**You can't be this much of an idiot… Hunter Nin are ninja specifically trained to hunt missing ninja. Rogue ninja who abandoned their village or rebellious ninja who want to threaten the villages they used to belong to. C'mon gaki. You're better than this.**__" The fox then made a retching sound before turning in his cage and whispering, "__**Mistaking compliment of the blonde, 1**__"_

_Naruto simply nodded at the explanation before looking back at the masked ninja, almost no time passing while he talked with the demon fox._

"_What will you do with him now?" Kakashi asked, eyeing the newcomer with suspicion. He recovered his Sharingan, but he could still see through lies with his normal eye. _

_The Mist ninja seemed to be thinking of an answer, before saying, "I'll return him to the Hidden Mist so we can recover any jutsu we can from him. His blade is also a legendary one that belongs to the 7 Legendary Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist. We cannot allow it to fall into the hands of any other than the next in line." The ninja then pulled out more senbon, "If you wish to steal it, you would have to go through me." She finished with a darker tone. Yoshi and Naruto took this as a challenge and stepped forward, but were stopped by Kakashi and Hinata respectively._

"_No, no… We're fine with you taking him." Kakashi said with an eye smile, allowing the Mist ninja to shunshin away. _

_Yoshi immediately broke out of his grasp, "Hey, what the fudge, man! Do you know how much we could have gotten for that?"_

"_Probably a lot" was Kakashi's bored answer. _

"_Then why did we let him go?"_

"_Because no matter how much it is, it wouldn't be enough to start a war between the Mist and the Leaf."_

_Yoshi was surprised, "What do you mean?"_

"_If the Hunter Nin hadn't appeared, Zabuza would have been ours by right of capture. This was not the case. The Hunter Nin _did_ appear and he belonged again to the Hidden Mist. Any more interference on our part would be seen as a declaration of war, something I don't want on record as my first genin mission, hmm?" Kakashi answered with a smile. Yoshi grumbled and walked away, followed by the rest of the team to Tazuna's house._

_Flashback No Jutsu, Kai!_

XxX

Yoshi coughed, "You could have just said, _Remember When_, you know…"

Kakashi smiled, "But that wouldn't have been as fun…"

Naruto laughed at their antics, but inside, he was thinking hard.

'_Oi, Fox_'

"_**What, idiot…**_" Kyuubi asked as he awoke from a nap, "_**If this isn't about a fun way to kill someone I suggest you refer to an earlier chapter in which the Hatake told you not to talk to me**_"

'_Yeah, yeah… Iruka told me all about not talking to shady looking people, but.._' Naruto was cut off here.

'_**Baka, I'm not shady looking.**_'

Naruto's face was blank now.

'_You do realize you're a fifty story tall menacing chakra monster with teeth the size of my… well… body…_'

"_**So? Do you realize that you're a pink hairless scrub with no tail and weird ears? For all you know I am the most handsome being to ever grace my kind.**_"

'_Che… I doubt it_'

No sooner had he thought that, had he felt himself being pulled back into his own mind. He landed with a splash on the floor of his mindscape. Naruto coughed up water as he tried to talk.

"What was that for?" he yelled at an angle into the bars, where he thought the fox would be.

"**Calm down, idiot. I just wanted to show you something. Where are you shouting, by the way?**"

Naruto changed his view to look further down at the bars to see a man in a red coat approach from the darkness. He wore a black dress shirt under it, which could be seen clearly because the coat was unbuttoned, along with black and red striped dress pants. He also wore dress shoes and topped it off with a fedora over his spiky, messy orange hair. He adjusted his sunglasses over his sharp, red slitted eyes, and smiled a toothy grin, which stretched his otherwise handsome face. He had whisker marks similar to Naruto's as well.

"**Hey idiot**" the man said with a yip. To say Naruto was surprised was an understatement.

"K-Kyuubi?" was all the boy could ask.

"**Of course. This is how I would look if I were human. Disgusting form really, but I just wanted to show you the error of your ways**" Kyuubi said with a smirk.

"B-but… how?" he yelled.

"**Fox magic, but that's for a later time**" He mumbled, then became serious, "**Now… what do you want?**"

Naruto stammered, but regained his composure, "Something's weird about that Hunter Nin…"

"**You don't say…**" Kyuubi drawled, sarcasm was his favorite form of speaking…

Naruto hadn't noticed it, "Yeah… it's weird… Hyuuga-san always told me that Hunter Nin always decapitated the body immediately, so as to not have to worry about the subject surviving the extraction…"

"**But didn't she put needles through his neck?**"

Naruto nodded, "Yes… but that wasn't exactly _decapitation_, now was it?"

Kyuubi laughed on his side of the bars, "**Seems like the idiot has moved up to stupid**"

Naruto deadpanned, "Wait… so you knew?"

"**Knew what?**"

"That Zabuza isn't dead"

"**Why, of course**"

"Then why the hell didn't you tell me!"

"**Well, you were being annoying at the time, forgetting vital stuff and all. I wanted you to figure it out yourself. I understand your reasoning, however. I should've known it would take you forever.**"

Naruto started throwing a fit in his own mind.

"So Zabuza is still alive and could be anywhere by now!"

"**Yeah… kid could be fully recovered as well. He might even bring backup.**"

"Dammit fox!"

"**That's Mr. Fox, to you.**"

"What if he comes to take revenge?"

"**Not my problem**" the fox… man said as he turned and head back into the prison that was way too large for him.

"But if I die, you die…" Naruto mumbled, which Kyuubi's sensitive ears picked up, causing him to stop.

"**I hate that rule…**" he grumbled and turned and walked to the bars. When he was only inches away from it, Naruto expected him to stop, but he just kept going and slipped easily through the bars that were now too big for him. Naruto stumbled backwards as the Kyuubi drew near, causing him to stop.

"**Calm down, stupid. I gained this luxury as soon as we made the contract. I need you to get stronger, or at least more chakra so that I can use more tails. I can no longer hurt you in your mindscape. I'm only here to teach you something.**" He said gently.

Naruto was skeptical, but shrugged it off and stood.

"What do you want to teach me?"

"**Simple things. Since time moves faster in here, we can probably do this before they notice you've been standing deathly still… and then notice that something is wrong.**"

Naruto glared at the fox for the insult, which was ignored.

"**Here, when you are outside your mind, I want you to make this seal...**" Kyuubi started, drawing a seal with his finger in thin air. It looked like a circle with a straight, vertical line in the middle, "**On your forehead. Remember it well, because I won't teach you it again. After that, I need you to make these handsigns…**" he said, before going through handsigns Naruto had never seen before.

"What kinda handseals are those?"

"**Ones that mold your chakra into fox magic**" Kyuubi said with a toothy grin. When he received an irate glare from Naruto, he stopped playing, "**Fine, it lets you use my chakra for this seal instead of your own. Your chakra won't bring about the desired effects.**"

Naruto tried out the seals, and found it easier than expected to remember.

"And what are these… desired effects?"

Kyuubi smiled as he leaned in to whisper in Naruto's ear. Naruto didn't know why, as they were alone in his mind, but as soon as he finished, Naruto jumped in the air, excited.

"That's brilliant, fox!"

Kyuubi smiled, before pushing Naruto back out of his mindscape.

XxX

"So how long do you think he's gonna be like that?" Kakashi asked, staring at Naruto.

"I think… an hour." Yoshi said, leaning back on the grass as he pulled out 1,000 ryo, which Kakashi accepted.

"I think two" he said, adding 1000 of his own into the mix. He looked over at Hinata, who shook her head violently.

"Oh really, now…" Kakashi drawled, "Too bad, do you know how much ramen you could buy Naruto with this?"

Kakashi smiled as Hinata rushed over and added her own share to the pot, "Ten seconds…" she muttered.

"Ha! Easy money!" Yoshi screamed, "There's no way the idiot could snap out of it in ten se-" Yoshi started, before a yellow blur pushed him across the brook.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN IDIOT, IDIOT?" Naruto asked angrily, staring at the prone form of his red haired friend. Behind his back, Kakashi handed Hinata her winnings.

"Maa… what was wrong with you, Naruto?" Kakashi asked. Naruto didn't say anything, but just stared at Kakashi, who understood.

"Looks like you're starting to understand mood, Naruto." Kakashi said as he stood up, putting away his book, "So class, today we're learning to walk on water. I assume you guys already know how to walk on trees?" at this, everyone nodded, but Naruto raised his hand.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"Zabuza, he's still alive!"

"Yes, yes, Naruto. I told you all this before"

"What? When?"

"When we were walking Tazuna to his house?"

"Wow…"

"Yeah… so… walking on water?"

"Of course…"

Kakashi nodded and walked out onto the water.

"Listen, the key to walking on water is basically the same as walking on trees but…" Kakashi started, but was interrupted by Yoshi.

"Um, Kaka-sensei? I already know this, can I go train by myself?"

Kakashi looked honestly surprised.

"Can you… show me?" Kakashi asked. Yoshi nodded and simply walked out onto the water. He barely made waves as he made his way over to the jonin.

Kakashi nodded, "Impressive, genin these days usually don't know this right off the bat" Yoshi just smiled at his praise, before jumping in the air and landing back on the water in a handstand. He then spun on a single hand and returned to standing in front of Kakashi.

"Why thank you sir!" he yelled, before turning into the forest.

Kakashi deadpanned, "You were just being a showoff… But anyway, Naruto and Hinata… the key to walking on…"

"A-Ano… Kakashi-sensei…" Hinata interrupted, "I already know this as well…" she whispered as she waked out out onto the water as well. Kakashi wasn't surprised this time, though. The Hyuuga were known for their great chakra control. Just because Kakashi wasn't surprised, however, didn't mean the same for Naruto.

"WHAT? WHEN DID YOU LEARN THAT HINATA?" Naruto half screamed, half yelled. This caused everyone to wince and cover their ears, even Yoshi who was already a ways away.

"Otou-san taught us, Naruto-kun… You were sleeping all the time on that day, so he decided that your punishment would be death by drowning…" she whispered, causing everyone to sweatdrop. Hiashi was a cruel teacher…

"I-I see, Hinata… Then that just leaves you Naruto!" Kakashi eye smiled at the young blonde. Meanwhile, Hinata was walking away in the same general direction as Yoshi. Naruto noticed this.

"Where are you going, Hina-chan?" he asked.

"Oh… I just have some business to finish, Naruto-kun… I shouldn't be too long…" she said, before dashing off into the trees.

"I wonder what that was all about…" Kakashi mumbled.

"Me too" Naruto said, still looking at the place where Hinata was seen last.

"Well, as soon as you master water walking like the rest of us, you can go see for yourself…" Kakashi's jovial voice sang, now from behind Naruto. The blonde heard the voice and tried his best to turn, but could only turn his head in time to see Kakashi grinning so hard you could see it through his mask. The sight scared him more than anything else ever could, and soon he found himself soaring through the air, before falling into the brook.

"Step One, get comfortable to falling into the water"

XxX

Hinata was traveling through the forest. She had stopped running shortly before and was now walking serenly through the unopened wilderness. She couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of its chaotic arranging that she could only sigh as she went through handseals and chanted, the veins around her eyes bulging.

"Come on out, Yoshi-san. I know that you wanted me from day one."

No sooner had she finished, had the red haired ninja dropped from a tree in front of her.

"You just have a penchant for saying innappropriate sentences, don't you?" he asked, going through handseals as well. When Hinata just smirked, he continued, "No matter, I still owe you for what you did to me back there. When I'm done with you, you won't be able to walk right for a week!" he smiled, pleased with himself. He was slightly unnerved when Hinata's smile never faltered. Instead, she just crossed her arms and grinned even harder.

"I see you have a big ego, Yoshi-san, but is it big enough to satisfy me?" she asked, tilting her head, a look of innocence now on her face, with a blush now on Yoshi's.

"You… you clever son of a…" Yoshi started, but stopped as Hinata almost looked even happier than before. He would stop here, alright. He didn't need Hiashi on his tail as well. He was losing anyway. No, he would take the high road out of this verbal war.

"Whatever… Hino…" he said, and instantly Hinata's smug face was gone as a look of rage replaced it. She dashed forward, her hands now glowing and her body in the gentle fist step. Yoshi smiled as he finished his handseals. This would be a fun day…

"Lightning Style: Songbird No Jutsu!"

XxX

It was a couple minutes since Naruto started training. He had managed to stand on the water for a few seconds, but ultmately he was unable to keep steady on the water for longer than that. After a few more tries and a few more times being drenched in water, Naruto climbed out the river, completely soaked.

"What am I not getting?" he asked tiredly, using his arms to drag himself further away from the water.

"Maybe you're putting too little?" Kakashi said, clearly bored. He was sitting on a stump he created by cutting down a tree. He wasn't a green person, that Kakashi.

"Maybe…" Naruto said as he contemplated the thought, then focused more chakra into his feet. He ran out onto the surface, but not two steps in he was propelled out like a cannon. He landed flat on his butt and sighed.

"Its not that Kakashi sensei…"

Kakashi turned another page in his book.

"Okay, you know what's too little and you know what's too much. How about you just try to get in between the two until you find the right spot. It's an easy trick, so it shouldn't take you more than about a bunshin's worth of chakra."

"I can't do the bunshin very well, though!" Naruto yelled, trying to get the water out of his ear.

"Hmm, so you're right…" Kakashi mumbled as he turned yet another page.

"_**Maybe you should try relaxing our chakras.**_" the fox mused.

'_What are you talking about?_' Naruto asked.

"_**Our chakras are no longer fighting each other. If you calm down and allow it to mix, maybe you'll find that utilizing it is much easier than you might think…**_"

'_Oh yeah!_' Naruto thought, standing back on the water, right before falling back in.

"_**Maybe you should calm down before you try to do it…**_"

'_I knew that, baka fox!_' Naruto screamed into his mind, dragging himself out of the river. Standing on the riverbank, Naruto stood still and closed his eyes, focusing his chakra. After a minute, he felt a surge of power.

'_Is this the fox's power?_' he thought as he chakra seemed fuller… thicker… more potent. It wasn't that he had more chakra now, but that he could use his own much better.

"_**This is the power that you've had all this time, that its not oil and water with my own, you can use it much easier. Let your body get used to this, then go out and try again.**_" Naruto nodded, and continued like this for another minute before sending chakra to his feet again and walking out on the water. He started to sink below the water, but only ever so slightly. Seeing this, he added more chakra to his feet, but this sent him flashing into the air. At the apex of his flight, he flipped and landed once again on his feet, grunting as he stood back up.

"Grr… Kakashi-sensei! This thing is impossible!" he yelled.

"Oh? Is that so, Naruto…"

"Of course! I don't understand how anyone could do this!" he yelled

"But Naruto…"

"This thing is rigged! You guys were walking on some kind of board or something!"

"Naruto, listen..."

"I bet I'd never even use this stupid thing! I can just use a boat to cross water!"

"Naruto, just calm down and look…"

"Screw this! Who even needs to be a ninja anyway? We're not even ninjas! We're like homocidal magicians! Ninjas were quiet and stealthy, they certainly didn't jump out into the middle of nowhere and rip entire acres of land out the ground and throw them at people, or grow entire forests using fire or some other bullsh-"

"NARUTO!" Kakashi yelled. Naruto jumped back in surprise.

"What?"

"Look down!" Kakashi yelled, slightly lower. Naruto stared at his teacher for a second, before complying and looking down. What he saw surprised him, and he could barely keep himself from jumping for joy.

"I… I did it?" he asked, still not believing it. Kakashi chuckled.

"Yeah, Naruto. You did it."

"Yatta!" Naruto screamed to the sky, jumping then landing back on the water. He started running around on the water before stopping and jogging in place.

"Okay Kakashi-sensei! Thanks for the help! I'm going to go catch up with Hinata now, see ya!" Naruto said, before running along the river in where he presumed Hinata went. Before he got too far, Kakashi caught his shoulder and pulled him back.

"What gives?" Naruto asked, struggling to get free.

Kakashi answered while continuing his reading, "I said you can go when you _master_ this technique, not when you generally get the concept. Next step, standing on the water on your hands."

Naruto groaned as he was tossed headfirst back into the water. He tried to focus chakra into his hands to stand but he put too much and blasted back to Kakashi, who just kicked him back.

"This is going to be a long day…" Kakashi drawled, while reading his book.

XxX

Hinata was breathing heavily. She was dodging the thunder notes for a while before she figured out she could disable them with her Gentle Fist. After that she went on the offensive and managed to shut off some of Yoshi's chakra points. This prevented him from using his lightning chakra, keeping him from completely overwhelming they were both going all out from the beginning, its only natural that they were standing on their last legs now.

"By-Byakugan!" Hinata whispered, reactivating her eye power. It was taxing on her waning chakra but she needed it. Yoshi was nowhere in sight, and there was enough debris from their fight everywhere for him to easily hide. Now that she was scanning with her Byakugan, she could now see that he was… nowhere?

"Hehe" Hinata chuckled, "I get it, Kai!" Hinata shouted, and the world around her melted away to reveal the red haired ninja sprinting at her. She grinned before dashing forward as well. They clashed and entered a pure taijutsu battle, with neither side gaining much ground. Hinata and Yoshi both threw their hands forward at the same time, Yoshi managing to punch Hinata in the face, while she only managed to graze him with two fingers to his forehead.

Hinata flew back and slammed into a tree, gasping as the air flew out of her lungs. Before she could recover, Yoshi reappeared in front of her and grabbed her by the collar, before throwing her in the air. At her apex, Yoshi appeared again and using both hands hammered her into the ground. When she hit the ground, she created a crater, in which she lay, defeated.

Yoshi landed gracefully after her, before rushing over to her and holding a kunai to her neck.

"Th-that was good, Hino… but I think I won…" Yoshi gasped as he held a kunai to her neck.

"Y-yeah…" Hinata gasped.

"So… I guess that to the winner go the spoils…"

"Y-yeah"

"So… what do I want from you…" Yoshi contemplated, tracing the kunai down her neck, before slicing her coat open. He smiled widely.

"I think that would do just fine…" he said smiling maliciously. Within seconds Hinata's coat was off her and in Yoshi's hands.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Hinata gasped. She couldn't move anymore. She was utterly helpless.

"Oh, nothing Hino-chan…" Yoshi smiled, "We're just gonna have some fun…" he said, moving towards the helpless bluenette in front of him. Hinata couldn't even scream as he started to violate her…

With a marker and paint.

"Hahahahaahahahaahaaaa!" Yoshi rolled around on the ground, "You look like a clown!"

Hinata pouted, "You sure don't play fair…"

Hinata now lay on the ground, covered in head to toe in bright red and yellow paint and make up. Using his speed, he quickly made Hinata look like a party clown.

"N-nope!" Yoshi said through laughs as he rolled around on the ground.

Hinata just laughed, "Well, neither do I…" and at this Yoshi stopped rolling around.

"What are you…" Yoshi started, before the world around him started to shimmer and fade away. Before he knew it, he was constricted and tied to a tree. When the genjutsu finally wore off, Hinata was at his throat with a kunai.

"When did you…"

"From the beginning, when I tapped your forehead" Hinata cut him off, "You were gone so long I had time to tie you up and get some… other things…" she trailed off, looking behind her. Yoshi followed her gaze and saw various different forms of make-up and paint, as well as dresses and high heels.

"N-no Hino-chan… we can talk about this…" Yoshi stammered out. He could feel his fear rising. It hit a high though when he saw Hinata gain a dark aura as she slowly turned around. When she did talk her voice sounded deep and demonic.

"Oh… but Yoshi-san… to the winner go the spoils…" she said, her kunai traveling down his body to a certain point, "by the time we're done, you'll be screaming my name… among other things…"

Yoshi started sweating rivers.

XxX

"Ya… Yataaaa" Naruto gasped, almost out of chakra. It had been hours since he managed to stand on his hands on the water, but even then that wasn't mastery for his sensei. Since then Kakashi decided that since he was such a quick learner, he would have Naruto be able to use his chakra to sustain him no matter where he fell on the water. So Naruto was then tossed across the water several different ways.

"Hmm, I guess you did well enough…" Kakashi drawled, putting his book away.

"GOOD ENOUGH?!" Naruto screamed, "I worked my butt off! I did exceedingly well!

Kakashi shrugged, "Maybe so, but I was doing so three years younger than you"

Naruto just pouted, and lay down on the ground, "Fine, just carry me home"

"What if I say no?"

"Kurama" was the only word that was said, and instantly Naruto's eyes turned to those of the fox's.

Kakashi's eyes widened, "Naruto… you…"

"**You're horrible at names Kaka-kun. Say it with me now, Ky-u-bi. Seriously, how hard is it to remember Nine Tails?"**

Kakashi took out his kunai and instantly charged Kyuubi. He prepared to stab him in his gut, but a chakra tail simply blocked his weapon.

"**Tsk, tsk tsk. Are you so ready to stab your student? Or should I say… your sensei's son?**" Kurama teased with a toothy smile. Kakashi only glared at him.

"How did you…"

"**Come on pup. We saw each other before our respective deaths. I may have had more to do with his than you think, but hey… he was trying to seal me. I think I had all rights.**"

Kakashi's eyes only narrowed more, "I don't really care anymore about how he died, he did what he had to, I've come to terms with that. How did you get Naruto to summon you just now?"

Kurama laughed, a second smaller tail forming behind him without Kakashi's knowledge, "**he did that of his own will, he's a crafty kid, he seemed to remember that you still wanted to talk to me**…" then the fox's expression turned grim, **"speak fast nin pup**…" he finished, letting off waves of killer intent.

Kakashi's expression only hardened as the waves washed over him. He was completely unfazed as he pushed harder in their struggle between blade and tail, " I have no more words to say to you, fox." Was his only statement as he quickly pulled out another kunai to stab around the tail, only for it to be blocked by the chakra shroud.

"**Step your game up, pup. I know you can do more than that**" Kurama teased, before the chakra quickly engulfed Kakashi's kunai and hands, trapping him, "**Too bad… you will never be able to do so again…**"

In the space between seconds, Naruto's now clawed hands swung out to slash at the one eyed ninja, but only managed to scrape at the jonin flak jacket. With a pulse of chakra, Kakashi blew away the demonic chakra around his hands and managed to jump away. The kunai left were absorbed into the chakra cloak and then thrown back at their owner, who dodged them and went through handseals.

"Lightning Style: Chidori" Kakashi yelled as lightning starting coursing through his hand. Kakashi only had one target, so he didn't need his sharingan as he blurred through th air and thrust his hand forward, only for it to be caught by Naruto's clawed one.

Kakashi groaned as the claws drew blood and the chakra burned. He could feel his head go light as the demonic power started to flow into him, when he felt like droppping, he poofed into nonexistance.

'_**A shadow clone…**_' the fox thought as he spun around to another Kakashi, this time with his Sharingan exposed, another chidori in his hand. Kyuubi prepared to grab Kakashi again, but as soon as he was within range Kakashi disappeared.

'_**And shunshin, he's pulling out his bare minimum. The other nin brats must be close**_' the fox thought, before grinning. He spun around again, not having moved as of yet and prepared for a Kakashi that was now charging with two chidori in hand. Kyuubi started going through handsigns when a large pug burst out the ground beneath him and grabbed him, restricting him.

"Hurry Kakashi! I can't hold him long!" The nin dog said as burn marks started appearing on his body. Already was the tail lashing out against him.

Kakashi didn't need any prompt though, his first chidori already ready to impale the chakra beast. Before it made contact though, the Kyuubi managed to swipe the dog, causing him to lose his grip. With one hand now free, Kyuubi blocked the first chidori.

"Impressive" Kakashi drawled, "but not good enough" he finished, as his second chidori aimed for Naruto's chest. It was only inches away when a chakra tail managed to wrap around his other arm and stop it too. Kakashi's eye winced.

"_**Tell me, why are you attacking your pupil with an assassination jutsu like that? I can tell that there is no other reason for that move**_" the fox said, narrowing his borrowed eyes.

"I still don't trust you, fox" Kakashi said, eye narrowing as well, "I don't think Naruto is stupid enough to just summon you on purpose. This attack is to defeat you and your cloak. It would be canceled long before it ever reached Naruto."

Kyuubi laughed, "_**So we're both looking out for the stupid little blonde… Listen here Kaka-kun**_" Kyuubi said jovially, "_**I have no need to take over the stupid kid. The way he is now, his body would burn out within seconds if I had. I geniunely want to make him stronger, same as you. So just trust me for now, alright?**_"

Kakashi looked pensive.

"_**Fine, tell you what, you have my word!**_" he said through a toothy grin, but Kakashi's look didn't change. "_**Fine, I'll throw in a couple Icha Icha Books too**_"

Kakashi's look was still the same, "What happens when he is strong enough to handle your power? What then?"

Kyuubi laughed again, "_**That's what this is about? Listen, we made a deal. This deal keeps us together. If the brat ever does somehow get that strong, then he would be able to fight me for control of his body by then, wouldn't he? You should have more faith in your students…**_"

Kakashi still didn't look convinced, which just made the fox sigh.

"**Fine, I just told the kid that if I ever did do something like take complete control of him he could always just suicide in his mind and send us both brain dead.**"

'_You didn't tell me that, fox! I already knew it!_' Naruto screamed in his mind, but just earned a shush from Kyuubi.

Kakashi still didn't seem very trusting of the demon, but he seemed to just let it slide so far, "Okay… you're okay for now, but if you ever…" Kakashi started, before he was cut off.

"**Btw, Kakashi, you held another blade at my throat, you know what this means…**" the fox said with a toothy smile. Kakashi's eye widened as he tried to pull away but Naruto held him fast. The Kyuubi's second tail rose up and was instantly about to strike when Kakashi poofed into smoke. When the smoke cleared, where Kakashi once was now stood Hinata, the chakra burning into her perfect white skin.

"N-Naruto-kun… you're… hurting me…" she stuttered, wincing from the pain. Instantly the tail stopped, just inches away from her face.

XxX

'_Hinata?_' Naruto asked within the mindscape, his eyes widening in shock, '_That's Hinata you bastard fox! Lemme go!_' he yelled, his blue chakra starting to overwhelm the red one that surrounded him like a blanket. Red and blue started clashing for dominance as on the outside, Naruto's eyes reflected his inner turmoil.

"_**Relax stupid! Its just a henge!**_" the fox tried to assuage, but Naruto was having none of that. Kurama could feel himself being reeled back in as Naruto pushed his way free. "_**Fine kid! I'll let you go! Just calm down before you make yourself implode!**_" he said, allowing the change to happen.

XxX

Naruto's red slitted eyes returned to their blue hue, and instantly the chakra shroud started to die down. The second, smaller tail vanished first, and the original one started shrinking as well.

"Hi-na-ta" Naruto mumbled through the pain of the cloak as it was reabsorbed back into his body, but that Hinata just poofed out of existance, looking strangly like Kakashi as it did so.

Naruto looked around for Kakashi, and was given his answer when he heard the chirping of birds behind him. He turned to see the visage of Kakashi rushing towards him, chidori in hand.

Without time to think, Naruto started dodging the strikes of the electrically powered fist, still being faster due to the power of the dwindling cloak.

"Kakashi-sensei!" he yelled, ducking under a kunai, "its me!"

Kakashi stopped immediately, disarming the chidori and then swiftly taking out his Icha Icha.

"Nice to have you back Naruto" Kakashi said as if everything that just happened hadn't. Naruto just nodded along with it as he heard Hinata and Yoshi stumbling through the bushes.

Naruto turned around swiftly, "Heya guys whatcha up to-" Naruto started but was forced to stop on account of having no air left in his lungs. No, this air was immediately expelled by all the laughter that he was doing. Standing in front of him was Hinata, in her ripped but otherwise normal clothes. By herself, she would have given Naruto a chuckle or two, but what really cracked him up was the kid standing just behind her.

Yoshi stood in utter silence as everyone laughed at him. He wore a long pink dress that dragged along the ground behind him, along with long white gloves on each of his arms. Although you couldn't see it, he wore stockings and flat top slippers underneath the dress, and a fake jewelery around his neck. His face was padded with so much powder that his normally tan face was now snow white. He also wore blush and red lipstick, all topped off by a crown, or rather a tiara on his head.

Naruto was now on the ground laughing. If this was a ninja technique then he would be dead by now. Kakashi was on the verge of tears and was about to be on the ground as well, but he just kept trying to yell "Kai!" over and over again. When the two ninjas realized that it was, in fact not an illusion, they started laughing even harder.

"You all can just go to hell!" Yoshi yelled as he stomped off to Tazuna's house, having to lift his dress behind him. This made everyone laugh even harder, but that was until Hinata stepped on his dress, causing him to slip, and fall on his face.

Everyone was silent.

Then after they caught their breath, they started laughing even cursed under his breath and pulled the dress from under Hinata, causing her to fall backwards where she was caught by the wrist by a still laughing Kakashi. Her laugh faltered for a second as she took a sharp intake of breath, before she started laughing again. Kakashi's eye narrowed but he remained silent, or as silent as a laughing man could.

"Boy, I don't even need to know what happened, that's just… pure gold!" Naruto managed to gasp out as he laughed, but inside, Kyuubi was contemplating what the blonde missed.

'_**Henge indeed…**_'

* * *

><p><em><strong> How was it? Please comment!<strong>_


	14. Chapter 14: A New Day

_Drip_

_Drip_

_Drip_

Naruto floated in the sea of his own consciousness, letting the waves of liquid that flowed from Kyuubi's cage to drag him to and fro. Now that the contract with his tailed beast was made, he no longer feared the power inside him, and instead let the place take him where he wanted. It was an almost tranquil escape, his mind. Now that he had nothing to fear, he could come here whenever he needed time to escape, or time to think or rest. He could be silent and insightful here, which was now whenever he slept.

Just as he was beginning to lull himself to sleep in his own mind, he heard footsteps on the water, and knew where it was coming from. "I was wondering when you would show up, furball"

Kyuubi, now in his human form, scoffed and kicked some water in his orange jailor's face. Flinching at it, Naruto sat up to look at his prisoner, and was surprised to see that he looked younger now. Standing at about a couple inches taller than him, stood a boy with spiky red hair that fell to his shoulders; he wore a bright red haori over a dark brown shirt with matching pants. His eyes were deep red and slightly slit. He smiled at Naruto's discomfort, before extending a hand to help him up. When Naruto took it, he was pulled up to stand.

"**I had some things to take care of**."

At this, Naruto gave the fox another once over, "I'm assuming that 'thing' was a makeover?"

The fox gestured to himself, pulling at his own clothes, "**Kinda. I can manipulate my appearance however I want to. Its one of the powers that a fox has**," at this, he took Naruto's hand and placed it on his shoulder, as if to convince him of his reality "**think of it as very powerful genjutsu. Anything my fox abilities can get its powers around, it can manipulate to take on another form**."

Naruto gaped, before taking his hand off and backing up for a better look, "What? How?"

Kyuubi opened his mouth to answer, but the words that came out were foreign to the young ninja. Naruto decided to take the only sensible response here and just stare until his companion got the message.

Kyuubi sighed, "**Okay, do you know of the Sage of Six Paths?**"

"No, why?"

Kyuubi chuckled, "**Because the only way I can explain my power to you otherwise is through a tongue you won't understand**." He started to laugh again, only to see Naruto grow even more confused. He became serious again, "**Fine. A long time ago, before ninjutsu and the Five Great Villages, was a time when Japan was in constant war. The people, scared and bitter against one another, fought constantly over every little thing, until war was as natural to them as breathing, I will refer to this time as Before Chakra, or BC**," he stopped, as Naruto raised his hand.

"**Yes, peanut gallery?**"

"What do you mean, 'Before Chakra'?"

Kurama smiled, "**Oh yes, it is just as it seems. In this time, there was no chakra to behold of. The people fought exclusively with weapons**," he stopped when he saw Naruto's face of disbelief. He gave him a moment to think before continuing, "**When it seemed like the war would continue on forever, a woman came from the darkness and quelled it. She used the power of an ancient tree to inherit chakra, and from it she became the first user of ninshuu. Using the tree's remarkably strong and ancient powers, she was able to bend nature itself, subduing the people with it until they feared her as a goddess. Her name was Princess Kaguya, the rabbit goddess.**"

Naruto nodded, only barely able to wrap his head around the conundrum. He raised his hand for another question.

"**Yes stupid?**"

"Was she the sage?"

Kurama shook his head, "**No, she was far more powerful. She could use thunder ninshuu far more powerful than anything you worthless ninjas use with but a thought. She could manipulate the elements themselves, sometimes for entire weeks on end without getting tired. She was the personification of pure and unbridled power. But, like all power that is unchecked, it ran rampant through her body and was burning her out very quickly. She used it like a kid in a candy jar, and over time her body mutated to try to accommodate the power. She gained the ability to see everything at once, and from a third eye on her forehead, she grew the ability to perceive all things.**"

Naruto stared in wonder, and finally fed up, Kurama flicked his wrist in annoyance, causing water to erupt from below and form a screen. This action caused Naruto to fall. From the screen, appeared a practically regal woman who was tall and fair. She wore a white kimono and had two red dots on her forehead, right above her eyebrows. Her lips were curled to be tight and emotionless, and her hair was long and straight, going down her frame. All in all, Naruto had to say she would be very beautiful, as if a statue, if it weren't for her eyes. Her three eyes were very unusual, two being blank and white, showing a disinterested look that stared into the nothing. Her third one however, seemed angry and demonic, having three concentric rings lined with nine tomoe, three around each. Despite their differences, they all radiated power, even as an image, and Naruto couldn't fight the urge to bow down in front of her.

Kyuubi chuckled, "**She was the progenitor of the ninja age, and the one who brought peace through fear to the ninja world.**"

Looking up to Kyuubi from his place on the ground, Naruto managed to tear his eyes from the image of the goddess, he was about to say something, before something caught his eyes, "Hey Kyuubi, doesn't her eyes look like the Byakugan?"

"**Which ones?**"

Naruto slapped water at him, "You know which ones, the normal ones. They look a lot like Hinata's, without the weird veins."

Kurama turned to look at the image again, inspecting it closer for something that he hadn't seen before, "**Hmm, I guess they do.**"

Naruto nodded, agreeing, "And the ability to see everything at once, isn't that kinda like what the Hyuuga eyes do too?"

Kurama nodded too, "**Yes it is. Looks like you finally graduated to Incompetent. Good job.**"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Kurama sighed again. This was going to be a long night, "**Her eyes, though a much more powerful version, were the original Byakugan. With these mutated eyes, she could use her vast chakra to see all living things at once. No one could ever sin or sneak up on her so much as she had chakra. And with the power of the old fruit, times that she didn't were nonexistent.**"

Naruto looked back at the picture with more respect, "And what about the other eye? The one on her forehead. What does that do?"

"**That, is the Eye of the Jyuubi**" the fox answered.

"The what?"

"**The… oh just shut up and let me finish!**" he said, getting annoyed at the interruption. Naruto, who had his hand up, put it back down. He looked like he was about to say something, but managed to stop. Despite this, he looked like he was about to continue as soon as the need arose.

Kurama accepted this, knowing this was the most he got out of him, "**Over time, her body wasn't able to contain all of this incredible power. It started to break down, her very bones protesting against the overwhelming power it possessed. Over time, she started to die, only managing to stay alive due to her ability to change the very flow of nature. She controlled her own bones, even, hardening and growing new ones when needed**," Kurama stopped to point at the horns on the image's head, "**those bones came about because she was unable to fully control the process.**"

Naruto rose his hand again. Kyuubi ignored it. Figuring he was in his own head, he used that to create a thousand clones of himself raising his hand. Kyuubi ignored that too. Shrugging, he started chanting "Hey, teacher!"

With the entire thousand.

Kyuubi ignored it still.

So he played K-Pop.

"**Yes, idiot?"**

"So you mean to tell me that- wait… I'm idiot again?" at this, Kyuubi pointed to the many Naruto clones around him listening in. Naruto dispelled them.

"**Yes, Incompetent?**"

"So she died because she was _too_ powerful? How does that work?"

"**Hmm, I guess you don't understand the burden of power?**" he said, gesturing to the picture again. It showed the woman from before gesturing in front of a devastating storm. "**The people feared her. With great power comes a responsibility to keep up with it, and she had the responsibility of preventing wars. She was a goddess who sinned by eating a forbidden fruit in order to bring peace. These things are bound to kill even the best, and she was not an exception.**"

"So what does that have to do with the Sage? Or fox magic?"

Kyuubi used the water to restrain him and gag him.

"**As I was saying, she was dying. She knew that had she died, she would not be able to keep the peace anymore, so she gave birth to two sons. One ran off and did whatever. We don't care about him.**"

Naruto spit the water out, "I have a feeling this is a cop out"

"**So do I. Anyway, before he went off to eat fire or whatever, he and his brother, who inherited her chakra, fought against an evil creature. It came to take its chakra back**"

Naruto spit the water out again, as Kyuubi re-gagged him, "I thought they got the chakra from the tree?"

"**Yes**"

"So they fought a tree?"

"**No**"

"What"

Kyuubi changed the image on the screen to two men fighting an unimaginably large and horrifying creature. At the sight of it, Naruto almost fainted. The Kyuubi changed the image to ramen and revived him.

Now awake and hungry, Naruto could continue, "What was that?"

"**The tree**"

Naruto pointed at the image, which was now ramen, incredulously, "That is not a tree!"

Kyuubi looked at him, "**I should hope not**"

"You know what I'm talking about!"

"**Let's say the tree turned into that**"

"WHAT? Trees can do that?"

"**Well, not all of them, just that one.**"

"What is it?" he asked again.

Kyuubi sighed, "**That's the Juubi, the ten tailed creature**"

Naruto tilted his head.

"**It was the tree?**" When Naruto nodded, he continued, "**Basically, the two brothers from Kaguya fought it and the other one, Hagoromo, or the Sage of Six Paths, absorbed it and became its container, much like you're mine. He then went to teach everyone chakra, giving all of the people a bit of his. When he neared the end of his life, he used his power called Creation of All Things to create something out of nothing, and split that beast into nine. He gave form to the nine chakras, and created from its body the moon. When he created us, I was fascinated by his power and…**"

"Wait…" Naruto started slowly, "you were one of the nine chakras created from that thing?"

Kyuubi sighed, "**I was. Along with the other eight, us nine are part of that creature. I am the strongest**"

Naruto sat there, overwhelmed, "So what you're saying is, there existed a creature so powerful it requires about nine of you to exist?"

Kyuubi nodded, "**Yes, but we'll never be together like that again for it to come to pass. I don't have a problem with my brethren, except maybe Shukaku, but I have no real need to become fused with them again. Now, will you let me finish?**" Naruto nodded, so he did, "**I was entranced by his ability, and I wanted to emulate it. I created from my powers then an ability naturally shared by foxes, the ability to deceive. Being a force of nature, I could do it better, to the point it became real. This is fox magic, a genjutsu crafted after the Sage's. While it cannot create form from nothing, it can manipulate the original chakra shared by just about all things to create an entirely new form.**"

Naruto raised his hand.

"**I'm guessing you want to know if this is your power?**" Naruto nodded excitedly, "**It is not**"

Naruto dropped his hand and flopped to the water, "Oh come on! What's the point of all this training I've been going through then?"

Kyuubi punched him, causing a bump on his head, "**Didn't you understand the power thing? Using high level genjutsu like that would burn you out and kill you. As it stands, only my chakra is able to manipulate things like that, and you can only handle about 1/1000****th**** of one tail. Enough for about one transformation before you burn out. We need you to train and get your coils up, before you go out and get yourself killed. The more chakra you have, the more you can handle, and the more you can use it.**"

Naruto grumbled, "If you can call that training…"

Kyuubi chuckled, "**You signed up for it, its not my fault you need to work hard in order to get stronger. The physical training is training your body and increasing your chakra, so its okay."**

Without warning, Naruto jumped up and tackled the fox kid to the ground, causing the two children to start rolling around on the water. This went on for a while, before Kyuubi grew his tails and detached Naruto from him, holding him in the air above him. He brought his knees up and kicked the boy away, sending him flying through the air, before slamming into a gate. Naruto shook his head dazed, before jumping up and glaring at the boy who was now standing and doing the same, now with four tails moving behind him.

"**What was that for?**" the fox boy asked.

"You wrecked my jumpsuit!" Naruto shouted back. He gestured to his clothes, which mirrored his actual ones, to show it was tattered and falling apart. Had he not been in his mind, the damage done would be enough to make it completely fall off around him with all the movement he was doing.

"**No, **_**you**_** wrecked your jumpsuit**," Kyuubi snarled, "**I would love to take credit for it, but that was all you**"

"It was during your horrendous training!" Naruto shouted.

"**The training that got you those muscles!**"

It was true, during the week they were here in Tazuna's house, they were training nonstop, often off in the woods by themselves, where no one could see the fox using its power to speed up the building of his muscles.

"Either way, you wrecked it…" Naruto grumbled, folding his arms. "It got me through twelve years without a scratch, and you destroy it in a week"

Kyuubi laughed, "**And I made sure you only brought one, so we're safe for now from that horrendous color.**"

Naruto sighed. He had been looking away from his mentor to pout, but brought himself to look at the fox boy, who appeared to be doing the same.

"So, what did you bring me here for tonight?"

Kyuubi glared at the boy before him, before relenting and creating a construct of water that took the form of a training dummy. "**The same thing we've done every night. While you can only train your body outside, you can train chakra manipulation in here. Time moves only slightly faster in here since you're not used to my chakra yet, but we should have 15 hours or so to practice the ****Fox Eye Genjutsu****. Do you remember the handseals?**"

Naruto nodded.

"**Then begin**"

XxX

Kakashi was not amused. Had he been any less of a ninja, or any less an ANBU, he would be unable to sense the very small amounts of demonic chakra leaking off Naruto every time he slept. It would often come in very small bursts, almost imperceptible had the fear struck into him that seemed permanently tied to that red chakra not alerted him to its presence immediately.

It had been a week now, and almost every day since the incident with water walking, Naruto had run off to train by himself. At first, he had been objective to it, as they worked as a team or not at all. Kakashi was a stickler for team things, in fact, all of Konoha was. Either way, with Kyuubi running rampant inside his student's mind, he didn't want the boy off on his own for very long.

So that was exactly why he went out to retrieve him the first morning he disappeared.

Only to find out that Naruto was _much_ better at stealth than he let others know. It wasn't enough to fool an experienced ninja like Kakashi, apparently, but by the time he had followed Naruto's _very_ few tracks to where he was, he was astonished at what he saw.

In front of him were _two_ Narutos.

Normally, that wasn't very surprising. Naruto had a habit of spamming clones whenever he felt the need. That was very often. Very often. Actually, a lot more often than even he was willing to admit. Naruto used the forbidden jutsu so often that he embarrassed _other_ people at its abuse. Kakashi wasn't even sure how he managed to embarrass him, as his very own best friend was a tights wearing psychopath.

And _that_ was a whole can of beans into and unto itself.

But no, what was different about this clone was that it was red headed and slightly taller than him. Sure, all the Naruto-esque qualities were there, but in each quality that was similar, there were a bunch more that weren't. Wherein Naruto had whisker marks, the clone had deep gashes that seemed to be indented in his skin. Where Naruto had spiky and energetic blonde hair, the clone had wild, almost unruly red hair. Where Naruto was bright and exuberant, the clone was feral, and almost majestic. Where Naruto had bright, deep blue eyes, the clone had purple, almost slit ones.

And it also seemed to shrink in on himself as if his own jumpsuit was going to kill him. That alone told him that it wasn't Naruto. Naruto took great pride in his orange jumpsuit.

He was about to jump out and confront the duo, when an almost imperceptible ANBU sign from the clone told him to wait. Okay, Naruto _definitely_ didn't know that. Deciding to wait, Kakashi saw then that the clone set up obstacle course upon obstacle course for Naruto to run through. He went on to push Naruto through them, often reneging on his promises to not interfere to, well, interfere. Often by making it even harder. Naruto even came close to death several times, which prompted Kakashi to act, when he was intercepted.

XxX

**Flashback No Jutsu**

_Kakashi, upon seeing Naruto about to die from a MASSIVE log about to fall on him, was about to save his young charge, when a shot of red appeared and burst the trap to pieces. Naruto cringed as the wood chips flew all around him, choosing to defend himself rather than dodge. Kakashi could plainly see he was out of energy and exhausted, which made sense, as he was at these courses for the better half of four hours. He looked about to collapse, when the red blur appeared again, and made it evident that it was the red haired Naruto clone. _

_It caught the original, and seemed to cradle it for a second, before kneeing it in the face and causing him to shoot back up. _

"_Yatta! What was that for?" Naruto asked, holding his nose and glaring at his clone._

"_**Because you're **_**still**_** not getting your spatial awareness down! As a ninja, and as a son of **_**THAT man,**_** you should have senses and instinct that warn you to impending danger, and you're **_**ignoring **_**them! You can do so much better than that!" **__the clone yelled, catching the original halfway through the rant, pushing him back up._

_Naruto just collapsed again, sitting flat on his butt, before flopping back._

"_How can you expect me to do so well when I've been a ninja for all of a couple months?" he asked._

"_**Its been four**__" Kyuubi corrected_

"_Even better!" _

_Kyuubi sighed, before extending his hand and pulling the boy up. When he was standing upright, or as upright as an exhausted person could, he put his hand on Naruto's stomach and instantly red chakra exploded over Naruto's body, rushing and circling all around him._

"_Whoa!" Naruto yelled, looking at his own hands unbelievably. The power that coursed through his body was amazing, and all of his fatigue seemed to disappear. As soon as the power appeared, it left, leaving the boy feeling a little empty, but otherwise okay._

"_What was that?" the blonde asked. Kyuubi sighed. He hoped this wasn't becoming a habit._

"_**I used some of my power to ease your muscles and replenish your chakra. You're now more or less back at full power."**_

_Naruto tilted his head, "You can do that?" Kyuubi nodded, "Why haven't you been doing this all along? I could have used it when Hyuuga-san was training me into the ground!"_

_Kyuubi laughed, "__**For three reasons, stupid. One, we hadn't made a contract, or even known each other at those points; therefore, there was no way for me to help you. Two, I can only do it once a day, as the seal converts my power into your own, and abusing it more than once a day hurts us both.**__"_

_Naruto nodded, seeing the sense in those words, "And the third reason?"_

_Kyuubi smiled. He smiled a smile so demonic, even Sarutobi and Kakashi's together wasn't nearly as horrifying, "__**My training can't even compare to the Hyuuga's. I will **_**not**_** have a weak vessel.**__" After saying his reason, the red haired clone picked up Naruto and threw him through several trees, into another training course. _

"_**When you get through that and back to me, we can start another sparring session!**__" He yelled into the forest. _

_By now, Kakashi had been thoroughly intrigued by the almost relaxed way the two spoke to each other. From the voice alone, the one eyed jonin recognized the clone as the Kyuubi, and the closeness between the two was disconcerting. He would have to talk to the blonde about it later. _ _For now, he pulled out a kunai, and whipped around to hold it at the neck of the red haired clone, who had appeared behind him the second it stopped screaming._

_It chuckled, "__**We meet again, one eyed. You just don't understand this ban of weapons and me, huh?**__"_

_Kakashi was not amused by its nonchalance, "What are you doing running around?"_

_Kyuubi smiled, "__**I can send some of my chakra into clones to control them for a while. When Naruto and I found this out, we were so excited to set up a training regimen,**__" Kyuubi stopped as he felt Kakashi press the blade closer into Naruto's clone's neck, "__**okay, so maybe **_**I **_**was excited about it, but he was curious!**_"

_Kakashi frowned, though it wasn't visible, "And I suppose this whole, 'taking over bodies' thing was a new revelation? Something you didn't just so happened to get him to do?"_

_At this, Kyuubi frowned too, "__**Oh, so you are still worried about me taking control from him, huh? Don't worry about that. The seal is still firmly in place on his real body, so I can't exactly take over his **_**real**_** mind. The seal, however, is so high leveled it can't even be copied by the clone technique, giving me slight reign over it. The downside, however, is that my chakra burns out the clone's much faster, making his clones last about half as long as they usually do. Pity, I would enjoy more time in this world, however horrible my form is…**__" he stops to flex his fingers, "__**He can't even make more than one anymore, as the chakra transfer would disrupt them.**__"_

_Kakashi pressed the blade closer. He didn't believe the demon, but its countenance didn't provide a good reason for a lie, "And what about these, courses, as you call them? How do I know you're not trying to cripple him?"_

_Kyuubi scoffed, "__**Didn't we go over this before? If the stupid dies, I die too**__," he uses a finger to push Kakashi's blade away, "__**and if you push that blade any further, this clone dies, alerting Naruto to your presence. Though I'm its consciousness, its still his clone, and dispelling it before I leave it will give him as well as me all of the memories it had garnered. From the way you've been spying on us for the last four hours or so, I'd say you didn't want that to happen."**_

_Kakashi's eyes widened. He wasn't sure exactly when, but he forgot about the fact that the fox signaled him with ANBU seals, "How did you learn-"_

_Kyuubi interrupted him, "__**Did you forget who my last container was? The Spicy Blood Red Habanero, Kushina Uzumaki of the ANBU? Her seal was impressive, as all Uzumaki seals are, but they didn't keep me from watching in if I really tried. I was bound to learn something**__."_

_Kakashi sighed. He guessed that made sense. It was no secret among the close members of the Yondaime who his Captain of the ANBU was, and he actually inherited that role from her when she became pregnant. That still didn't answer some things. _

"_Why are you training him?"_

_This question actually caught the fox off guard, "__**What?**__"_

_Kakashi straightened up and holstered his blade, not wanting to cause a scene and alert his charge. This kind of commotion was not what he needed. "Why are you training Naruto then? If you don't want to kill him, and you don't want to take over his mind, why are you training the boy? I think I'm more than competent enough to do it myself." At this, Kyuubi started laughing, showing off Naruto's lengthened canines. He didn't know why, but he felt offended by the perversion the Kyuubi's presence did to Naruto's body._

"_**Were you not listening? I cannot have a weak vessel. Now that I'm out and can sense my other brethren, I can sense them training their vessels as well. I want to show them all that I am still top fox, and to do that, I need to have him as strong as possible. If that means doing your pathetic job for you, so be it**__" _

_It was Kakashi's turn to scoff, "And it has nothing to do with you wanting to take over his body when he utilizes enough strength to use more tails?"_

_Kyuubi, who was laughing at his own jabs at Kakashi, stopped laughing to now stare seriously at the man, "__**Do you think that's all that I'm interested in? No, I've long since given up on your world. I no longer care about its future**__." _

_This caught Kakashi off guard, did the fox say he cared for the world in a way that didn't pertain to its burning? "What do you-"_

_It was that moment of hesitation that hurt the jonin, however, as Kyuubi used this time to flash behind the man, in a burst of speed the man knew that Naruto couldn't do himself. Instantly, Kakashi could feel the clone's sharpened nails pressed against his neck, breaking the cloth that usually extending to his mask and about to pierce his skin. _

"_**I'll be honest with you, ninken. I do not like you. I respect your distrust of me, I do, but you are seriously putting a hampering in my plans. I've tried using logic to persuade you of my innocence but that doesn't seem to be enough, so here's the ultimatum. You will accept me as Naruto's companion or we will set each other to war. I care not what you perceive your power to be, but compared to my own you are still but a kid. Let this happen and we can easily make Naruto into the ninja his father meant him to be. I'll even train the other Uzumaki boy and the Hyuuga if you wish**__," Kyuubi chuckled as if his words were funny, "__**Oppose me, however, and Naruto will only be the unfortunate casualty. I have no need to be your enemy, you can teach him human moves I could only begin to understand. But do not hamper my progress**__," the fox finished, leaking killing intent that made the one eyed jonin cringe. It had been a while since he'd done that, but he was sure to not let it know. He still wasn't sure of its standing._

"_I don't understand your reasoning of helping the boy."_

_Kyuubi scoffed, before releasing his prey. He would eat the man another day, "__**Do you really want to know?**__"_

_Kakashi, sensing the sudden softer tone, just nodded._

_Kyuubi sat down on the branch and seemed to wait for a while before responding, "__**Its because he reminds me of someone. He's an idiot. No matter how much info is blown into his head, no matter how obvious something is, he will always remain that way. He is blissfully unaware of the world around him, and hopelessly optimistic about the future, even if no one else is. Even when the horrors of the world hit him like a brick, I'm sure he will bounce back and hit it as well**__, "Kyuubi stopped and flicked a random twig into the forest where Naruto was. After a couple seconds, the sound of falling was heard, and Naruto screaming about having to start over. _

_Kyuubi continued, "__**He doesn't take an easy way, even if it is the best way for him, because he believes in doing things right. He wants to become great**__" Kyuubi looked down, "__**I guess I just want to help him along. Though unrefined, that boy has a certain power in him. Thus far he hasn't really shown it, but he can bring out the best in people. I just want to give him the power to protect what he grows. I never had people caring for me, but through him, I think I can feel something like it.**__"_

_Kakashi stared. Was this what the beast felt about life? Or was this a ruse? He wanted to feel sympathy, but killing intent was still present. He settled for sitting next to the fox._

"_Listen-" he started, but the fox boy raised his hand, silencing him. _

"_**I care not for your words, ninja. This was simply something to pass the time while the idiot practiced out there in the forest. Unfortunately, using that thing to get behind you has used all of my chakra in this body, and the clone's chakra isn't far behind**__," the fox then put his outstretched hand on Kakashi's shoulder, "__**I'm willing to get along with you for a bit, but only if you prove to me your loyalty in these young students. Teach him in my stead, and I will ensure you no ill will from me.**__" And with that, the clone disappeared. Shortly before it poofed, Kakashi saw its features return to normal, signaling that Kyuubi had left before it could dispel. This meant that Kakashi's secret was safe. Naruto did not know he was watching._

_Speaking of the kid, Kakashi could hear him coming through the forest, back into the clearing. Jumping clear off the branch and landing in a light crouch in the clearing, Kakashi took out his little book and started to pretend to read it. This was the sight that greeted Naruto as he ran into the clearing. _

"_Hey sensei, I'm done!" Naruto yelled as he ran into the clearing. His jumpsuit was torn in a few places, giving the impression he went through a tough ordeal. His labored breathing was also an indication of this. Nevertheless, he looked excited, and not threatened in any way. If he had been forced to act this way, Kakashi would be able to see through it; his emotions were sincere. Emotions that soon showed shock when he saw it was Kakashi, and not Kyuubi. _

"_Umm, I'm done with my jog, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto quickly tried to cover up. Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He had heard Naruto call out sensei, but it was obvious it wasn't for him. Did this mean Naruto saw Kyuubi as one too?_

_The silver haired man smiled, "Is that so? Well then I guess you're ready for more chakra manipulation training then?"_

_Naruto gulped, visibly scared. They spent the rest of the morning doing this until Yoshi and Hinata awoke doing just that. _

XxX

Ever since then, Kakashi trained them harder than ever in their strengths to capitalize on their weaknesses. This wasn't his real team, but they would do for now. Naruto, while being okay in close combat, was simply second rate to Hinata. He couldn't blame him, as the Hyuuga's style was a perfect offensive technique, even when defending. Where the boy's real talents lay were in stamina, and surprisingly fuinjutsu. He could easily throw around enough chakra to make a dozen clones and set enough seal traps (though very sloppy) to back up his team.

Hinata was great offensively, but had no projectile jutsu to speak of. Beating her was simply a matter of out ranging her, and that made her a glaring liability. This was offset by Yoshi's Lighting Notes, which could easily outrange even the farthest of enemies, backing up Hinata perfectly.

Yoshi, while able to somewhat match Naruto's speed, was terrible in taijutsu; most of his ability in the art based on outpacing the enemy. Anyone even slightly skilled in close range combat and prepared for him could easily match and even overpower him. No, his talent lay elsewhere. His style was based on setting up notes and then getting far away to set them up again. His abilities required him to stand still just long enough to set his notes to hone in on a target, time that was enough to kill him. Naruto's seals protect him in his moments of weakness, and make his one weakness bait.

Kakashi was sure that their teamwork was better than his actual team.

Either way, Kakashi wasn't too sure about the fox. He didn't pride himself on being able to see into a person's heart, as he had all but shut his own off, but he felt a sincerity in the fox's words that one didn't hear often in the ninja world. He supposed he could blame it on the fox's cunning and trickery, but he also supposed the demonic being actually was making Naruto stronger. Kakashi sighed, he would let this go, for now. He looked back to Naruto's barely glowing form and decided that standing here would do nothing to help either of them, and decided to go out and do his job for once. Opening the window, the one eyed ninja took one last look back at his teacher's son and couldn't help a faint smile. He looked so much like his father.

With that thought, he left into the night.

XxX

Haku remained passive as he walked through the streets of Wave. Around him stood the people of the country in rags and bones, having sold all else for the smallest bits of food and water. They sat where they fell, groaning and tired from working in Gato's designated areas where their payoff was far less than their workload, and still they were required to pay a stipend simply for existing. The situation here was far less than pathetic, and was getting even worse every day.

In the young boy's hands was a small bag of ingredients. It was nothing really, just a small paper bag holding the barest amounts of ingredients, including rudimentary medicinal herbs that, fairly, were in poor quality. He still bought them at some exorbitant prices, but that was for the sole reason that there was really no other place for him to go on such short notice. He searched all over the village for it, but barely managed to get the ones he got now.

Not even because they were in competition for them, but because no one could buy anything.

Every place he went was bare and scrapped, with little to nothing on the shelves. The owners all seemed shocked that anyone was even capable of opening the door to their shop, as apparently it was an art lost long ago. Half the time Haku couldn't even find what he was looking for, and asked for directions, only for him to be directed to things that bore little to no resemblance to what he needed. Haku sighed, his pouch was now noticeably lighter, and his hands unfortunately weren't much heavier.

Stepping over another passed out citizen on the street, Haku took quick inventory of his items. A few Quickdraw grass bundles, a Sience seed and… other miscellaneous things. They all unfortunately blended together in a dull brown that signified their nearness to death. The young ninja hoped they would be good enough as he started going through various handseals with one hand. At the end of them, water gathered from the surrounding air and formed a mirror of ice. Deciding there was nothing else for him here, the youth stepped into the mirror and disappeared, the structure breaking to pieces and melting away seconds after forming.

A man sitting against a broken down house not too far away was stunned at what he saw before him. He was about the ask the pretty youth for some money, or even some food, as obviously she was well off if her fancy kimono and shiny hair was anything to go by, but upon seeing the spectacle happen, he decided that maybe he should just starve for a while.

XxX

Hinata stood with a blank expression on her face. She was standing outside a door, her fist raised and ready to knock. Mere inches away from the frame, all she had to do was knock in order to gain entrance to the room, or at the very least alert those inside to her presence. She was unable to do this.

Her fist started shaking. She was nervous; obviously so. Sweat started to appear on her forehead as she peered blankly, almost soullessly ahead of her and into the door, as if she could see what hid just beyond it.

The problem here was that she could, and she most definitely did.

Byakugan active, young Hinata Hyuuga stared directly through the door in front of her, and into the room Kakashi just left. Laying inside was a still asleep Naruto, but that alone wasn't what caused her to pause. _Around_ the boy she grew up with was a glowing field of… **red**. Just red, almost malevolent chakra. It moved in jerky, unpredictable patterns, and seemed to be manipulating not only Naruto's mind, but his body as well. Hinata swallowed hard, she could barely contain the nervous energy she was feeling.

That was the same chakra she saw Kakashi fighting with out in the forest; the same chakra that burned her wrist.

Hinata looked towards her outstretched hand, and looked at the tight wrappings around her injury. She pulled it back and rubbed it almost reflexively. It burned, even now a week later. Through the bandages she could see residual red chakra tainting her skin. It wasn't hurting her anymore, so much as just _lingering_ there. It gave her a nervous feeling whenever she saw it. A feeling she wasn't willing to live with any longer. With a huff, she gathered her courage and moved to knock on the door again. This was her one chance. Naruto had always disappeared each morning and reappeared only when they were deep in training. She had no other time to ask but now, so she was going to.

With more determination than she had felt ever before in her life, Hinata brought her fist to the door.

Only for it to be caught by a swift hand.

"Eep!" Hinata squeaked as her hand was caught by the wrist not even millimeters from the door. Utilizing her 360 degrees of vision, the Hyuuga heiress saw her red haired teammate holding her hand in the air. She had been so focused on her task that she ignored what happened around her. She cursed, that was not a thing that a good kunoichi was to do, and certainly not something she would do again.

Meanwhile, Yoshi just stared at her with a grin on his face, "Late night desires keeping you up? Personally, I would be glad to entertain you if the blonde is too sleepy."

Hinata blushed slightly before pulling her hand away. She hissed a little at the tight grip she had to pull her already injured hand away from, before adopting a playful, almost mocking face herself. Now in "Dirty Hinata" mode, she was ready to retaliate. "Sorry, Yoshi-kun, I don't think you could ever possibly measure up to Naruto-kun. His stamina is legendary, and I don't think you could even last two minutes with me", she chuckled, "you certainly didn't last very long before."

Her hissing didn't go unnoticed, but the red haired boy just smirked, "I'm more than willing to go for a second round."

Hinata sneered, an undoubtedly adorable thing still on her face, "No thank you, Yoshi-kun. I'm a bit preoccupied right now, but you're more than welcome to play with yourself." At this, Yoshi just chuckled, before turning and urging Hinata to follow. After staring for a few seconds, at both the red haired boy in front of her and blonde haired one sitting in the room, Hinata came to a conclusion. She ignored her new teammate as usual and went back to knocking on the door. She raised her hand to knock, when suddenly she felt electricity coursing through her body. Sparing a glance back towards the red haired boy, she realized that he went through handseals faster than even she could see. Gone was his playful attitude and jovial nature, now replaced with a serious one fixed with a glare.

"I'm sorry HInata, but this is not up for discussion. Raiton: Electrosensory Control"

And just like that Hinata felt the muscles in her body being manipulated by the electricity running through her. Albeit reluctantly, she was forced to follow the boy as he led her down the stairs and into the early morning.


	15. Chapter 15

**_I'm not dead._**

**_Yaaay_**

**_I updated._**

**_Yaaay_**

**_I'm in college._**

**_Boooooooo_**

**_Still no beta_**

**_Boooooooo_**

**_My writing sucks_**

**_But for sticking through with me you get a cookie_**

**_As in a shoutout. Yes its back. Comment and help me with my writing. I promise I will try to improve. Together, we can make a story that's so much better. _**

**_Just_**

**_Just don't destroy my self esteem. _**

**_I'm in college. I just got it back up._**

**_Chapter Something: A week of trouble_**

XxX

Naruto awoke with a start, his head throbbing from the extended amount of exertion he had to have in his "dream". Kyuubi had put him through a lot in the eight or so hours he had been asleep, though in his head it was closer to fifteen.

"_**Rise and shine, orange boy. You've had a full eight hours of sleep**_", the Nine Tailed Fox shouted joyfully from inside his head. Naruto yawned.

"_Is that so? Then why does it feel like I didn't even have one?_" Naruto thought. To him, he set down for the night and went straight into training, then from that straight into waking up again.

Kyuubi was silent for a moment, as if thinking, before he responded, "_**that's because your mind itself didn't get any actual rest from that, but your body is more than rejuvenated**_."

"_Is that so?_" Naruto thought, before springing up out of his mat on the ground. Almost immediately after his feet hit the floor however, they wobbled and set him back on the ground.

"_Hey, what gives!_" Naruto shouted inwardly.

"_**Hold on, hold on**_", Kyuubi answered, before sounds could be heard inside his head. Kyuubi seemed to be looking through some things, "_**Ah, here's the problem**_."

"_What is it?_"

"_**Your body knows that it's in top shape and ready for the day, but your mind doesn't. Its tired, and its expecting different signals from what it's getting, which is resulting in it freaking out and you on the floor. You know, where you belong**_," the Kyuubi finished, proud of itself.

Meanwhile, Naruto was trying to get a hold of his body, but it just wasn't quite listening. Or was it his mind? "_I don't understand. We've done this a lot of times this week. Why is this only happening now?_"

At this, the Kyuubi yawned. He really didn't like the role of 'teacher' he was becoming. He answered anyway, "_**It's because we took breaks between nights before. We would have done that last night, but SOMEONE thought that we could handle the training and go three nights straight**_."

Naruto grumbled, "_Yeah, and that SOMEONE was you!_"

Kyuubi chuckled, "_**Excuse me for expecting something from you. Who knew your pathetic little human mind could become fatigued. I thought Uzumakis were known for their unrealistic endurance?**_"

"_Hey, I-_oof" Naruto said as he tried to push himself up on his hands and knees, but failed horribly, "_I survived being pretty much awake for more than three days now, especially since the time inside my mind was longer than the time out of it. Cut me some slack here!_"

Kyuubi didn't respond, but Naruto could hear him scoff in his head. He tried to get up a few more times, but he just fell down again. "_Um, a little help?_"

"_**What am I supposed to do?**_"

Naruto managed to shrug. Kyuubi sighed.

"_**I'll see what I can do**_." Naruto would have taken this moment to start wondering exactly what that was, but immediately after the fox was done talking, red chakra started feeding from his stomach directly to his head. The chakra, while usually dark and malicious, felt warm and relaxing as it circulated around his brain. All of a sudden, time seemed to slow for him. Turning his head and looking out the open window, he could see the birds flying as through a thick shroud. A butterfly floated through the air, next a plant that was placed on the windowsill, and in a red tint, it seemed to take forever to land on the pedals. It was wonderful and splendid, an almost euphoric experience, like being in a different realm; but before Naruto could start to enjoy it, it was gone. The world returned to its usual shade, and time returned to normal.

Naruto gasped, gulping in air, "_What was that?_"

"_**Hmm?**_ _**What'd you say?**_"

"_I said, what was that? That whole time slow thing?_" he repeated.

"_**Oh, that? I focused some chakra to your brain to help rejuvenate it. Its about where your body is now. All that excess and potent chakra up there however made your brain go on overdrive, and you started perceiving things a lot clearer. It happens when you use the chakra cloak too; on a lesser scale, of course**_."

"_Really? That's awesome! Why don't we use that more often?_"

"_**With great power comes**_…"

"Great responsibility, yeah, I know, I know…", Naruto grunted, finally pushing himself up off the floor. As he pushed himself up, however, he noticed his jumpsuit didn't come with him. Having lasted him that last endeavor and making it through the night, his jumpsuit had finally fulfilled its purpose, and like a lover content that his partner was going to be fine, it passed gently onto the next life.

Or at least, that's how Naruto saw it. Tears filled his eyes instantly after picking up its battered visage and seeing it rip apart even more. Kyuubi, being in the poor boy's head, could instantly hear his depressed thoughts and feel his depressed emotions. He promptly retched. This was one of those few situations where living in a veritable sewer was a good thing. The only bonus he could think of.

"_**Oh gods and wretched beings above please stop doing that!**_"

Naruto looked up from his rags at nothing in particular, but Kyuubi could feel he was looking at him, "Bu-bu-but its my favorite ju-ju-ju-ju-"

"_**Oh stop your blabbering! Your emotions and blathering is making me feel like absolute shit. I don't like that. I'm used to being the best, so stop your complaining and get up**_"

Naruto was all out crying now, tears streaming down his face.

"_**Oh, what now**_?"

"Th-th-this jumpsuit was w-with me through every bad part of my life!"

Kyuubi groaned, "_**Are you sure its THAT one? You have maybe eight more at home.**_"

Naruto shook his head vehemently, "NO! It was definitely this one! It had the ramen stain that never came out on the left thigh!"

Kyuubi took a look at the jumpsuit. It was so irrevocably damaged that it was almost hard to tell if it was still orange. Almost.

"_**Um, that one didn't have a ramen stain**_"

Naruto looked up. Kyuubi wondered why, seeing as there was no one in the room. He assumed it was metaphorical for the boy, "Are… are you sure?"

Looking at the boy's hopeful expression somehow and comparing it to his previous state, Kyuubi felt no remorse in lying, "_**yes**_"

"Really?"

"_**Definitely**_"

"Well, that settles that", Naruto exclaimed, his mood immediately better. With a swift flick of his wrist, the young Ninja flung the remains of his favorite jumpsuit out the window, the particles scattering to the wind. Getting up, the boy made his way over to his pack and opened it, pulling out a rather well fitting black shirt and a pair of black pants with orange stripes.

Kyuubi cringed. "_**Where does one even find so much orange**_", he asked.

With a smirk, Naruto pulled on his pants, his shirt already on. "A magician never reveals his secrets."

Kyuubi scoffed, "_**He does if no one ever watches his show**_."

"But people do, I have a big, fluffy, orange fan."

"_**One day you'll have to restock, and then, I'll find out**_", the fox responded, "_**and when I do, I'm going to burn it. I will burn it until its ashes, then I will burn its ashes**_".

"Keep telling yourself that", Naruto responded, stretching himself. Kyuubi's chakra was constantly active, even while asleep. The seal was meant to slowly acclimate his body to using the dark power, so even now, small wisps of orange chakra flickered off his body. This being the case, after a week he could handle at least a half a tail without too much strain and he felt extra powerful. Looking out the window, he could see the sun just barely rising above the trees. He took a deep breath. Another full day of training was ahead of him.

"_Its time to give it everything we have, isn't it?_" he asked.

Kyuubi nodded. Naruto could feel it somehow.

"_I could feel I was getting close last time_"

Kyuubi nodded again, "_**You did, but close is not good enough for jutsu like this. You need to pull it off perfectly if you want its effects.**_"

"_About how long do you think it will be until Zabuza recovers?_" Naruto asked. He would be a liar if he said he wasn't concerned about the legendary sword ninja once he was serious.

Kyuubi took some time to ponder. "_**If I had to guess, I would say you had another two days or so until he was in prime fighting condition**_", the beast said about after a minute, "_**he would need everything he has to beat a nin pup like your teacher**_". Naruto relaxed a little. Sensing this, Kyuubi continued, "_**Be that as it may, he'll still have reinforcements this time, and he probably won't hold back. Underestimating your opponent is the easiest way to the grave**_."

Naruto pouted, "_I _know_ that, furball. It just felt nice that Kakashi-sensei won't be curb stomped. It means the rest of us can focus on his reinforcements."_

"_**I find it likely to only be the hunter ninja. The sword nin did not seem to be the type to harbor many allies**_."

"_Is that so?_"

Kyuubi nodded. Once again Naruto sensed it in some way, "_**Yes. Either way, it's time to train. Get to the obstacle course.**_" Naruto nodded. Without a second thought, Naruto was out the window and into the fresh morning air.

Today was going to be a good day.

XxX

Hinata couldn't lie, out of all the times she'd been kidnapped, this was by far the most pleasant. After leaving a certain radius of the house that she assumed was the radius that Kakashi was surveying, Yoshi switched from the appearance of the two young ninjas doing a casual stroll to picking her up and sprinting through the trees. She figured Kakashi was too busy reading to see that things were slightly off between the two.

With the lavender eyed girl now on his back, they traveled on a much swifter pace through the forest of Wave. Tiny electrical currents flowed through the readhead's hands and back, making not only his hair stand on end, but kept the effects of the jutsu active. It was unnerving to have the inability to do what she wanted, but the slight tingle was relaxing, despite the danger of the situation.

Once they were a certain distance out, the two landed in the middle of a clearing, tall trees surrounding them on all sides. They were in a noticeably wetter environment now, the water levels considerably higher. The ground was almost marsh-like, and because of this the wildlife that grew from it was much richer. Setting the girl down gently on a patch of slightly wet grass, the boy started flipping through hand seals immediately. Ending on tiger, Yoshi concentrated, sending out electricity through his feet. The electricity formed a cage of sparks around them, keeping them safe inside from any intruder. What Hinata saw was that it kept her from getting out.

With a sigh, the boy dropped his hands from the seal, before sitting down in the center of the cage. "I know you're already starting to regain feeling", he finally said.

Hinata, though surprised, didn't show it. Indeed, she could feel her arms and legs, though they were a bit numb. She could fight, but she would be incredibly sloppy. The boy, although not as powerful as she, was a powerful fighter nonetheless. Going at him at anything less than her best was a pitiful idea. With this in mind, she settled for glaring at the boy. While adorable, her Hyuuga eyes were capable of considerable intimidation.

From the way the boy flinched, she could tell the intimidation worked.

The red head put his hands up as if to ward off the stare of the pupil-lessgirl. "Hold on, hold on, Hino. You know I don't mean you any harm."

Hinata scoffed, "Surely. I'm sure all the girls love getting paralyzed and dragged off into the middle of nowhere, before getting caged in." Hinata then grimaced. Naruto had rubbed off on her more than she expected. Had she not grown up with him she would probably still be a nervous wreck. As she was now, however, she was sarcastic and witty.

She then remembered Naruto's quips.

Maybe just sarcastic.

Yoshi at least had the decency to appear guilty, "Its… actually not like that at all. I just needed you away. We need to talk about something."

Hinata raised her eyebrow, "and what particularly is that?"

"Your little boyfriend, Naruto."

At this, Hinata stiffened, her entire posture becoming considerably less relaxed. With the mention of Naruto, she now felt like now was not the time to be witty.

"What do you mean", the Hyuuga finally managed to get out, her eyes narrowing. This had the effect of making her glare even more dangerous, and Yoshi had to realize he knew very little about the bluenette after all.

Maybe there was a reason the blonde was so cautious around her.

Deciding he should lighten the mood, Yoshi decided to tease, "Oh? Not going to deny that you're lovers?" Yoshi had meant for her to get embarrassed. What he got was the exact opposite. The girl, finally deciding that her kidnapping had gone on long enough, slowly pushed herself up to sit on her knees. It appeared as if she could only just barely control herself, but considering the amount of electricity he had ran through her, that she moved at all was impressive.

"I think...", Hinata started, flexing her fingers slightly. She looked at her left hand, almost as if judging it, before letting her arm fall tiredly back to her side before doing the same on the other arm. To the redhead, it looked as if she was a unit preparing for war.

Understandably he started to channel chakra.

"... I think that the time for jokes is over. Apparently we have something serious to talk about", the Hyuuga princess responded, no mirth in her posture. Recently, there were some questions coming up with her friend that she didn't know the answer to.

That scared her.

Yoshi nodded, "I see Naruto is a very serious issue to you", he responded. Trying his best to be imperceptible to a Hyuuga, the boy could feel his chakra for _Lightning Armor_ building up.

Hinata just nodded back, "Of course. We grew up together, you know."

Yoshi took a step back, "Did you? I wasn't aware."

"Well that's to be expected, we did just meet you a couple days ago."

"I was in your class for two years", the redhead responded.

"And yet we just met you a couple days ago", Hinata continued, not missing a beat. Yoshi could see the small bursts of chakra resonating through the young girl's tenketsu. She was burning the electricity out of her system. Very _very_ soon the girl would become a very dangerous little force of nature. Subtly, the boy molded his gathered chakra.

"I was never a talkative fellow", Yoshi managed to answer. Offhandedly, he could feel sweat starting to form on his brow. To this, Hinata managed to giggle.

"And yet here you are, talking to me now", she stated. By now she was on one knee, her leg pulsing in bursts of blue, her chakra purging the numbness. What exactly do the Hyuuga teach their young? "Apparently its important as well, if you feel the need to call me out here."

Yoshi gulped, swallowing the fear rising in his throat. Unconsciously, he backed up another step. "It is", he managed to choke out. The boy knew as well as the girl that he wasn't quite up to fight the pale eyed warrior. "Its about his... _condition_."

At this, Hinata was curious. The chakra surging in her other leg slowed, but did not stop.

"His... _condition_? What condition in particular? His addiction to ramen?"

Yoshi tilted his head, "You're not serious."

Hinata simply stared at him. She was.

"No, not that", Yoshi answered after a few moments. In those moments Hinata had finished whatever she was doing and stood up. Her limbs were probably still sore, if the way she slightly tumbled was any indication, but regardless, the girl glared forward. Given the slightest provocation, Yoshi was certain the girl would pounce. He made no sudden movements.

"No", the boy said, "no, nothing like that. As serious as that is, this other one is _way_ more important. Trust me."

Hinata scoffed, "really? So tell me, why exactly do you know about this? Better yet, why do you know about this _condition_ before me?" The word was said with incredulity.

Yoshi slightly put his weight on his front foot, ready to move at the slightest of signs. Regardless of how civil he was trying to be, Hinata looked closer and closer to exploding. "That's... complicated." At this Hinata frowned. Whatever traces of adorable were in her eyes before was now gone. Now, she only looked like she wanted to kill. Under his breath, Yoshi cursed. He knew this was not the best way to handle this situation.

"What do you mean _complicated_", the heiress all but hissed out. "Well _un_-complicate it for me, _now_." The girl now stalked forward, one steady leg taking a firm step towards her captor. Swallowing his nervousness, the boy wondered which beast exactly did he lock himself in with. Upon hearing the low growl coming from her, he surmised a lion.

The boy lightly reached up and tugged at a lock of his hear, "I don't suppose this is enough of a hint?"

The intensity of her glare was the answer to that question.

"I'm... an Uzumaki?" the boy continued after a bit. Hinata, who had stalked ever closer, stopped at this.

"You're an Uzumaki", he bluenette asked, her eyes darting away momentarily. The redhead could only guess her thoughts. "Like Naruto, ne?"

The boy shrugged, "... kinda?"

The Hyuuga's eyebrow twitched.

"See, his past is kinda... sketchy?" the boy continued quickly, "His lineage is kinda tricky. I don't know everything exactly, so there isn't too much I can tell you, but what I do know is that there is much to him than you know."

"Ugh, like _what_", Hinata asked, "you keep saying there's _something_, but you are never outright saying it. I'm getting _annoyed_."

Yoshi looked at the Gentle Fist technique coating her hands. He'd say she was well beyond annoyed.

"That's... the thing. I can't tell you any more than this."

Silence.

"_What_"

Yoshi backed up a bit more, "I can't tell you any more. We figured it was best if he told you himself. I just wanted to let you know to be prepared considering what's coming up."

Hinata's Gentle Fist flared. "So you kidnap me, drag me out here, and trap me just to tell me to be _prepared_? I've _been_ prepared! I want _answers_!" The normally quiet girl screamed. The red chakra, the odd behaviour. Everything her best friend had been doing lately had been just _irritating_ her, and the worst part was that she could do nothing about it. He was saying nothing, no matter how much she asked. She knew Kakashi, his sensei, knew things. He _had_ to if _she_ of all peoplenoticed. She knew her father noticed and now this new boy, someone they _barely knew_ noticed, and even knew answers to why. It seemed almost everyone _but_ her knew things about the person she was _supposed _to be closest to. It was frustrating. It was annoying. It made her sad. It made her mad.

It made her want to fight.

"I'm sorry Hino, there really isn't much more I can-" the red haired boy started, before immediately jumping back, dodging a Gentle Fist to his shoulder.

"Wh-what the hell are you doing Hino?" Yoshi asked, starting the hand seals for his _Lightning Armor_.

Hinata landed in a crouch, knees bent and ready to spring again. Her arm was still outstretched in the strike. Slowly, she brought her arms back in, before activating her Byakugan.

"Don't pretend you didn't see this coming", the heiress said, "even without my eyes activated I could see you preparing yourself." Without any more explanation, the girl shot forward again, the chakra swirling around her fists bulging even further. Yoshi , expecting the lunge, jumped back to avoid it, rushing the last few seals when suddenly the feeling in his left arm left him. Not being able to complete the last handseal, the boy could only let his chakra dissipate.

"_Shit, I can't do the Lightning Armor with single seals_", the redhead thought. Cursing, he looked back at the girl, who simply glared at him with unrestrained fury.

"How", he asked, "I know I dodged that."

Hinata smirked, "You're not the only one keeping secrets." The pure eyed girl looked around to see the cage still up. "I'm surprised you still managed to keep this up."

Yoshi chuckled, "I'm not a one trick pony, you know."

Hinata smirked back. "That may be", the heiress started, crouching back into a crouch, her hands in a Gentle Fist stance, "but without your Armor you don't have much in the means of stopping me."

Immediately the girl burst forward, wasting no time in getting close. Yoshi's eyes widened slightly as his instincts told him to dodge. In less than a second the Hyuuga closed the distance between them in the small area. The boy started to dodge, only being able to rely on his instincts to minimize the amount of hits that touched him. That in mind, without the boost of speed from his Armor, the boy had no chance of matching the taijutsu oriented fighter he was up against. Only about a minute had passed since the engage started, but he was clipped here and there. It was nothing too important besides a tenketsu allowing him to move his left forearm. Seeing as he barely felt that anyway, it wasn't too big a loss. Regardless, this wasn't a fight he was going to win through attrition. If he kept on the defense, odds were he was going to lose.

It was a fact they both knew.

One continuing to dodge, the other to attack, the two kids danced around the cage. The electricity of the cage crackled and pulsed in a soft hum.

"Ha Ha HA", the Hyuuga heiress grunted, her strikes flowing and striking. She would throw a hard straight, deceptive in its strength. It would pulse and bulge through its execution, expanding slightly near the end of her strike, covering more area than just her hand. If she missed, which she usually did, the girl's arm would come back, melding back into her form and flowing with her body until it was ready to strike out again. While she didn't land a solid blow, her chakra would clip him every now and then, and that was all she needed.

"Ugh", Yoshi grunted, before ducking really low under a blow meant for his chest. Not expecting this, Hinata overextended slightly, providing the opening the boy needed. In his crouched position, the boy pushed upward, intent on headbutting the girl. The attack connected, but the girl had partly recovered by the time the attack was being executed, and the girl had started to jump back. Stumbling slightly from the blow, the Hyuuga landed a bit back, panting slightly.

Back over with the redhead, the boy collapsed to one knee, his breath heavy.

"It seems you're still a big laggy", Yoshi said between breaths. He waited for the girl to answer, but her stare settled on him: every bit as dangerous as her now less chakra coated hands. It didn't appear she was going to answer, so the boy continued, "Do you want to talk _now_?"

Hinata simply stood there, a low amount of chakra swirling around her hands. As he waited for her response the boy just stared at it. It looked calm and peaceful. It swirled and danced around her palms like water. It was a piece of art in motion. It didn't denote the danger it held in the slightest.

After a while the boy broke himself away from the swirling hum. Bringing his eyes back to the Hyuuga girl, the boy now noticed the girl was now _much_ closer than she was before.

As in right on top of him.

Actually, he couldn't feel his right arm anymore either.

"Gen-Genjutsu? In your-"

"In my palms yes. There aren't many Hyuuga genjutsu techniques, but this is one of the simpler ones", Hinata answered, before her body blurred into motion.

"_Eight Trigrams: Sixteen Palms!_"

XxX

Kakashi sighed as he watched the cage of lightning dissipate on the redhead's defeat. Hinata collapsed to her knees shortly after she finished her combo.

"Hmm, they've both improved. Good to see all that training paid off", the man drawled, his finger thumbing the page his book was opened to. He kept monitoring the two for a moment longer, his eye on the page but his senses on the entire range around him. Sensing no threat, the man left the two to their own devices.

They would sort things out. They were Leaf ninja, and as such, they wouldn't hurt each other and probably wouldn't get in trouble either.

Now to find their last teammate.

XxX

_**How was it?**_

_**Yes, Samus and Pit is still alive. Its kinda like my baby. I just feel a certain entitlement to this story. **_


End file.
